Repayment
by MazzyBooks
Summary: A kind deed will always have consequences, but there's no guarantee it's a good one. After Sonic helps a stranger in need, it results in an argument with his parents that pushes him too far. Years later and the stranger is now G.U.N's best agent Shadow. But when he takes down a speedy thief, it's the same child that helped save his life, who he promised to one day repay. What now?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So I quickly got bored of my last story already, so after brief inspiration from somewhere I can't remember I've come up with yet another School fic, only it's not as depressing as my last one... or it might be, who knows, I'm pretty twisted. Anyways, this isn't centered around School, but you'll see if you read on.**

 **Please show support by leaving a review, and hopefully I'll click on with the next chapter when I can :)**

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Nothing exciting was happening this morning. Just the same usual; small breeze, busy traffic, kids the same age as him walking in groups and laughing about anything. Not him though. Sonic always walked by himself to School. Not because he had no friends, but because it was the closest to freedom he could get. A simple half hour walk to School. Ideally, he would run, but that would take him less than a single minute. Besides… he wasn't allowed.

"Sorry dude" he heard after a bump collided with his arm. Sonic looked up, but it was just another student older then him racing to catch up with his group. The guy didn't look back but it didn't matter, Sonic really didn't care. In fact, there wasn't much about the School he did care about. It was just so… normal. Nothing ever happened. There were popular kids, nerd kids, gangs, groups, clicks, whatever. However, it was nothing like movies portrayed High Schools to be. There was no stereotype's beating each other up or random conspiracies going on, it was just a regular School. Some people got on and some people didn't.

Sonic got on with anyone he spoke to, but that didn't make him king of the School. He was… there. He had his close friends, he did well in sports, got good grades and struggled with certain lessons, much like a lot of people. He couldn't really come to grip with it though, he was thirteen yet already the world seemed so bland. Everything was a routine, the same thing every day, over and over, and it bugged him. It was bad enough his future was already planned for him, but this was something different. What was missing? He didn't know. He'd just have to wait.

Eyes finally lifting from the pavement, Sonic looked up at the large building he was walking to. Already the loud noise of students filled the air, doing their everyday thing. Pointlessly.

However, there was one thing that was different today.

Sitting on the floor against a building, just opposite the School, was another hedgehog. It was odd, he just sat with his arms crossed over, looking as if he was trying to sleep. Loads of people were walking passed him, but no one payed any mind to what he was doing. He was so still that Sonic probably wouldn't have noticed him either, had he not been sitting on the path he was walking.

The School bell loudly rung out in the distance, and Sonic realised he must have been staring when he seemed to snap out of a trance. Then suddenly, just when the streets were bursting with people, it all faded away as students went into the School building, leaving just the black hedgehog and him alone on the path.

Sonic didn't move, he knew he was going to be late, but now that the crowds had gone, he could see the man properly. Black fur with red streaks on his quills. His hands weren't crossed though, they were gripping his arms for warm as he shivered. His gloves were torn, and he had no shoes on his feet. He finally realised why this man was sitting on the side of the pavement, he had nowhere else to go.

It was sad seeing someone like this. There were so many stories of people being homeless and falling on desperate times. He'd seen beggar's in the streets before, they'd always ask for money when you walked past. He had wanted to give them some money, they had plenty to spare but his dad never let him.

This man was different though. He wasn't asking for anything, he just sat there looking invisible.

Sonic looked around now realising he was the only one left outside and very late for his first lesson. But could he really leave like this?

Apparently not. Without a second thought Sonic turned away from the School and walked over to the stranger. The closer he got the more he saw. Bruises tracing his mussel, and bones showing through his flesh. He could already hear the man's stomach growling.

When he was standing next to the man's side, he waited to be noticed. But he wasn't, so Sonic shyly reached down and tapped his shoulder.

The sudden jolt of the stranger's head sent a fright through the young teen who yelped out as the man narrowed his crimson coloured eyes. "What?" he snapped abruptly, clearly angry at being disturbed.

Sonic started to feel his heart race a little, worried he had made a mistake. Not only that but his dad would kill him if he found out he was late to School to talk to a homeless person. This was a bad idea!

Unsure of what to do, he gulped silently as a nervous chill ran down his spine. "I'm s-sorry. I came to see if you were alright?"

The man said nothing, but his eyes unnarrowed at the boy. Then with a soft sigh he looked away, "I'm fine, just run along" he answered, his voice sounding broken from dehydration. Sonic didn't though. He felt sad knowing this man was stuck out here, while he could easily walk into a warm building any time he wanted. So instead he decided to stay.

"What's your name?"

The man looked up, his brow raised unexpectedly. He couldn't tell if this kid was here to mock him or was just stupid. It was reluctant but he answered anyway, "Shadow. Shadow the hedgehog."

Sonic stood for a moment, only nodding. "Okay… I'm Sonic, I go to that School over there" he explained while pointing at the building. Shadow looked, but didn't seem impressed. "Fancy School. Are literally being criminal bait or do you want something?" he asked. Sonic was caught off by that comment and found himself stumbling for words, "Umm, no, no… I actually wanted to… well…" he took so long that Shadow started to ignore him, going back into his previous position before he was disturbed.

Realising he had made a mess of things, Sonic took his backpack from his back and placed it on the floor. He reached in and pulled out a red coat. This quickly got Shadows attention.

"My mum told me to bring it because it's going to rain later, I can get the bus home though. Here, I hope it fits."

Shadow only stared, completely lost for words. The child was holding this padded rain coat out to him, so warm and comfortable looking, it just couldn't be genuine. When he didn't take it, Sonic draped it over his shoulders for him. The feeling was like ice on a burn, only the other way around. His body had been constantly shivering for so long through the winter, using only newspapers for warmth. But then this! It felt like a soft flame warming up his skin, making him feel like he was inside a home once again. Something so simple, a coat. A thing people take for granted. He just knew that he would never let anyone take this away from him. Not again.

He looked up to the boy, gratitude filling his eyes but not knowing the correct words. Too many emotions took control. He was so happy for the gift, yet… ashamed. This should be the other way around. A child shouldn't be caring for him, he should be taking care of himself.

Breathing in deeply and closing his eyes, Shadow showed nothing. He took off the coat and handed it back to the young blue hedgehog. "Thank you, I truly appreciate the gesture, but I'll be alright. I can look after myself" he said respectfully. To his own surprise however, the boy suddenly looked sad, staring at the coat like he had just been slapped for giving it away. He didn't take it back, instead took it and placed it onto the floor right next to Shadow. Then, before the stranger could ask, Sonic reached into his bag and pulled out his lunch for the day and a bottle of water. He placed both items on top of the coat, then slowly backed away.

Shadow couldn't take it in, food, water and warm, all there in front of him. But his damn pride… he couldn't. "I don't want pity Sonic" he snapped.

"It doesn't matter, I've leaving them there whether you take them or not" was all that he said before picking up his bag and walking away, finally leaving Shadow alone. But the black hedgehog wasn't pleased. A deep twinge in his chest as guilt was creeping through his mind. The child was a fool, anything could have happened to him had it been the wrong person… yet all he wanted was to help.

Unable to resist, Shadow placed the coat back over his shoulders, it was a little small for him but it didn't matter, it was good enough. Then he opened the container with freshly made egg sandwiches, side salad and a slice of chocolate cake. In normal times, he would have turned his nose up to the repulsive smell of the sandwiches, this time however, he devoured the meal in front of him. Nothing was left, not a single crumb. He wasn't so careless with the water though. He took a huge gulp and drank no more. His throat almost burned, but the relief was so good. He wanted more but water was too sacred to him now. If it was going to rain later then he could refill the bottle but he didn't want to take the chance.

Shadow looked up to the School. The boy was long gone and very late, but for the first time, he was so glad that someone stayed behind for him. Not much compassion is shown in a city like this.

Sonic… he would repay his kindness somehow… one day.

* * *

The School morning was over, and now was time for everyone's favourite period; lunch time.

It normally was for Sonic as well, but today it was not. He actually started wishing he could skip lunch and finish his classes. Although if he was wishing for things, he'd wish he could just go home, that would be better… then again maybe not.

It was bitter sweet sitting with his friends and watching them take out their lunches and eating away happily. "Hey where's your food Sonic?" his best friend Knuckles asked him. The red echidna was a year older then him, so normally break periods were the only times they got to hang out. There were a few other kids at the table, but they rarely spoke to them. Sonic and Knuckled would sit in the same spot all the time, the others had the same idea. Luckily, they gave them space.

Especially now and Sonic shifted awkwardly. "Um I gave it away" he admitted. Knuckles stared at him for a moment, half his sandwich already shoved into his mouth as he raised his brow. "Annnnd why would you do that?"

"Because there was a guy outside who was homeless and hungry, so I gave him my food. It's no big deal" he shrugged.

Knuckles rolled his eyes, "Yeah unless your dad finds out Mr. Hero."

"Well don't tell him then, and he won't find out." Subconsciously Sonic's hand went to pick up invisible food that would normally be in front of him, only to groan when nothing was there.

Knuckled pushed his bait box forward with an irritable sigh, "Here, help yourself" he said, obviously not one to normally share. Sonic didn't protest however, "Thank you" he grinned, taking the last slice of peanut butter and jelly.

"How did it go on the exam?"

Knuckles, finally moving on from having his food taken away, laughed. "It wasn't bad. I got a B, which mean's next year I can make my way into sport studies, the easiest subject there can be."

"I don't think it will be that easy Knux, but well done I guess."

"What about you, still being forced to choose Phycology instead of something you want to do?"

Sonic placed his head in his head, tiredly going over the events of last night in his mind once again. It wasn't hard for Knuckles to pick up on the matter, "What happened this time?" he asked, used to the situations by now.

"I tried talking to my mum about spending the summer abroad with that charity program, but she was too busy with my brother and sisters and told me to talk to dad. I tried telling him it was fine, and there'd be adults there but he wasn't going to listen to me. I can't even talk him into letting me take geography, why did I think he'd let me go on this trip" he said miserably. Knuckles crossed his arms, lips pressed together as he thought of what to say, "Sorry bro, I really wish you were coming. But hey, I'll write your name on one of the water pipes we install and on a brick. It be just like you were there" he tried to joke. Sonic's deadpan expression was the only answer he needed.

"That's not funny. It's not fair, I even said I'd pay for it myself but he didn't care."

Knuckles eyes shifted for a moment, and he slowly leaned in closer, "Do you think he's worried about… you know… _the gift_ " he whispered. Quickly Sonic kicked him in the shin.

"OW!"

"Shut up, don't mention that here!" Sonic hissed through his teeth, quickly looking at the others on the table to check they weren't listening. Luckily, he was safe.

"Okay I'm sorry, don't need to kick me man" Knuckles grumbled. "Anyway is the reason you gave your food away, so you can still feel like you're helping someone?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, maybe. I just felt really bad for him. People take so much for granted, or at least in my family they do."

"What really? You mean your dad who's a famous lawyer, stupidly rich, has seven cars and makes you live in a giant house of gold? Nah I thought he was a humble old chap" the echidna mocked before being shoved. "It's not just him I'm talking about, it's all of them. My sister actually cried yesterday because the necklace she wanted wasn't the right shade she wanted. That necklace cost more then what it would to go on this trip!"

"Yeah must be so horrible to be in your family. Imagine getting things you want whenever you want, eating diamonds and living it easy."

A nerve had been struck and Sonic angrily stood up and walked away without saying a word. Knuckles watched, confused as to what he did. He quickly threw his things in his bag and chased after his friend before the blue hedgehog was out of sight.

"Sonic! Wait" he called out, pushing past people in his way. He finally caught up when Sonic had slowed down, walking towards the yard for some open air. It can be intimidating surrounded by people all the time, especially when you're pegged down at the rich kid that's ashamed of his money. But it doesn't help when your closest friend treats you the same way.

Knuckles reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him from walking off any further. "Hey dude, come on I was just messing around. Why are you being so sensitive?" the moment he asked that question however, his eye caught sight of something and he wished he hadn't. The bruise on the side of Sonic's ribs had been hard to notice due to his fur, but in the right light, it was easier to see. "Aw no… bro" he sighed, eyes furrowed upward in deep sympathy. "It's happening again, isn't it?" he pointed to the injury.

Sonic instantly covered his ribs, "No it's not… I'm not allowed to talk about it."

Knuckles felt his head shake, worry now filling inside for his friend. "Sonic my dad's a cop, you should talk to him."

"What good is it gonna do? My dad's a lawyer, he can get any criminal out of jail, why should be brother be any different?" he looked away, his hand never leaving his ribs.

"You know you can't keep living like this..."

Sonic breathed deeply, his eyes staring hopefully towards the world beyond the horizon, only dreaming about what it was like out there. "I know… the sooner I get as far away from here the better."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 and it's so much longer then I had expected it to be. Phew, least it's finished.**

 **Thank you for the reviews and for following this story, I'm hoping this will provide the drama people love reading hehe.**

 **As I'm sure you have realised all the character's aren't doing their canony things, but sometimes it's nice to see them a bit differently.**

 **I hope you enjoy and please leave a review to let me know what you think as they really help me out!**

 **(Re-uploaded) as I have gone through and changed a few things in this chapter, hopefully making it a bit better.**

 **Thank you :)**

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Despite it being late afternoon, it was almost pitch black outside. Thunder clouds didn't help the unfortunate conditions of winter as rain stormed along the roads and sidewalks. His mother's warnings had been right and Sonic could only make up so many excuses before they started to become unbelievable.

Opening the door to his home, the soaked and shivered hedgehog placed his back next to the coat rack, took off his shoes and shook like a stray dog, drenched from freezing water. His plan was to rush upstairs and dry off as quick as he could before anyone asked. No such luck, his mother was walking down the large stairway, saw him and walked over.

Bernadette was a very classy woman, worked in an art gallery as well as being the face for many charities. Anyone would think she was first lady by the way she behaved. Always wearing formal attire, a red skirt suit, heels and of course diamonds. Most notably her wedding ring and jeweled encrusted necklace that she valued over anything else in her life. Sonic often felt himself included.

His mother had only taken one look at him and she wasn't happy. "Sonic why are you wet, I told you to take your new coat!" she immediately scolded, her hand reaching out to feel how cold her son's cheeks were. His lips were almost as blue as his fur, he was freezing. Sonic was doing his hardest not to let it show however. "I wasn't t-that cold" he tried to lie, only to sneeze immediately afterwards, not helping his case.

"Don't give me that! You're filthy, and the maid has already gone home. Get in the bath before you cause a mess around here" she said, pushing him up towards the stairs.

"No mum please…"

Rolling her eyes, Bernadette was not in the mood for silly games, or in her eyes 'idiotic phobias' "For goodness sake child, the bath isn't going to kill you. Stop messing around before I get _really_ annoyed with you. No go! Don't come down until you're clean!" she pushed him once again before the young teen winced but eventually made his way to the stairs.

Now he trembled for a different reason. He tried looking back to his mother for mercy but she had walked off into the sitting room, no doubt to be with her favourite children. Parents always say they don't have favourites, but sometimes they couldn't have made it more obvious if they tried. His parents were no different. With an older brother, twin sister and three younger sisters, they had a pretty big family. Yet it always felt like he must have been adopted… reluctantly. If not for his twin sister Sonia he would have believed it and all.

Sonic made his way to the bathroom and locked the door. There were three bathrooms in the house, one in his parent's room, the main bathroom, and this one which was more of a shower room as it didn't have a bath. This was the only one he would use. No one understood where his fear of water came from and his parents have tried almost everything to get him to join his sisters in the water whenever they went to the beach. The end result was always the same; cling to his mother for dear life until they left him alone.

It wasn't his fault though; his brother Axel was five years older than him and whatever he lacked in brain cells he made up for in strength and aggression. The girls were off limit, he had that much curtesy, but that meant only one person left to unload on, the only other boy in the family. How was he supposed to tell his parents that Axel held him under water in the river a few years back and he'd been terrified ever since?

Showers were all Sonic could manage, but even that took time. He originally planned and swearing off water altogether but it wasn't long until he stank to the point his father threw him in the garden and hosed him down. He was slowly getting better now though.

Still, Axel was never far away when he got home, so Sonic rushed to get himself cleaned, turned off the shower and dried himself with a towel, finally feeling warm again. With fresh soaks and gloves on, he ran down the stairs, and joined the small group in the sitting room.

It was the nicest part of the house, and his favourite when no one else was there. A roaring fire that could easily warm the house up, a large flat screen tv mounted on the wall and elegant paintings giving it a Victorian royalty feel, something his mother intended on when decorating. The reason he loved it however was because whenever his mother wasn't home, no one was allowed in that room without her permission. Thus, perfect hiding place was born. Sharing a room with his brother took its toll.

Sadly however, hiding was not on the cards tonight. Bernadette sat on the love seat reading a book while the four girls watched whatever chick flick they were enjoying. Despite being sisters, all of them couldn't have been more different. The oldest was Sonia, pink fur, very into her fashion and was the spoilt brat of the group. After her came Skyler, her fur was a lighter shade of purple then her mothers and she was defiantly the loudest, always ready to stir up trouble so long as she wasn't involved. After her was Sally, she was deep green with her hair brushed down. Their mother was very protective of her, she could do no wrong and she had their parents wrapped around her fingers. Though it was mostly because she had almost died during birth and hadn't been well for the first year. The youngest of them all was Sam, pink fur and at only three years old she already looked like she hated everyone.

Sonic could only guess that his parents were fond of names beginning with S', his brother was no different, his real name was Samuel, a name he hated and decided to go with Axel instead. It stuck after a while.

Thankfully his brother wasn't home yet. He spent the day with his dad at work and weren't due to come back for another ten minutes or so. As all the girls were occupied with something else to do, Sonic found an empty spot next to a globe of the world, made of marble. Bored, he spun the globe to see where it would land, his stomach growling like crazy as he hadn't eaten all day. No one paid any attention to him, expect for Sam who wanted to join in the 'fun'.

The cook was working away in the kitchen preparing dinner, and right on time the front door opened.

"Honey I'm home" a loud voice called out before his father walked into the sitting room, grinning as he saw his wife and handed her a bouquet.

"Jules, oh how lovely" she said dramatically, getting up and taking the flowers before they shared a kiss. Jules was a smooth talker, easily getting his own way and coming off clean in any situation. It's no wonder he's made it so far in life already. Look out for number one wasn't half of it.

"Children, I hope you've all been on your best behavior today" he charmed, talking mostly to the girls and they rushed over to hug him, hoping he had something for them as well.

It wasn't long until _he_ joined the family. Axel looking like he had spent the whole day in a waiting room and was ready to punch someone… _Note to self, sleep in Sonia's room_.

"Sweetheart, how did you find it today?" his mother asked, pinching Axel's cheeks. He was quick to squirm and push her hands away, "It was fine" he mumbled. Jules slapped his arm around his shoulders, "Ah don't be so disheartened, it's not all paperwork and meeting with snotty lowlifes. Just wait till you argue your first case and get your first bonus, then law school will all be worth it."

Jules was one of those people who had followed his father's footsteps, leaned from his experience and perfected his arguments to the point he had more success and wealth then he should have. His success was so great that naturally he expected the same from his boys. Axel was willing, but would rather be slacking off then taking it seriously.

Sonic was a whole other story.

After everyone else had received their father's attention, Jules made his way to the blue boy sat next to the globe. He kneeled and ruffled his son's quills. "Hey Misery face, what you looking so down for?" he asked, still with his obnoxious smile. Skyler was happy to answer for him, "Maybe because he realised no one loves him" she laughed before her mother rolled her eyes, not making much of an effort to tell her off. Instead, now that all the children were back, she moved everyone to go into the dining room, as food was about to be served, leaving Sonic and Jules behind.

The father watched them leave before turning back to his son, "Don't worry, soon you'll get to watch your old man at work. I'll make you a lawyer out of you yet. Come on, bet someone's hungry" he teased, pinching his son's cheek.

Sonic couldn't have glared anymore if he wanted to, "Dad I'm not a child! Stop treating me like this!" he yelled before pushing past his father and leaving the room.

"Sonic come back here!"

"Go to hell."

As he walked into the dining room, ready to take his chair, Jules marched up behind up and snatched his arm, spinning him around slapping him on the side of his head. No one seemed phased by it. Bernadette said nothing while the children mocked about him getting in trouble.

Jules had no problem telling him off in front of everyone either. "Don't you dare talk to me like that, got it!" he spat, shaking Sonic by his arms. The young hedgehog didn't look him in the eyes, but nodding his head. When his dad didn't let him go, he whispered a small apology.

Satisfied, Jules let go and took his chair at head of the table. Unfortunately, Sonic had to sit in the chair next to his, with his brother being opposite. Jules may put on a show, but often or not he had a short fuse and Sonic could easily light it, unintentionally.

The youngest boy sat in silence, rubbing his head and sighing. He never knew when he was going to get hit or not, but it just upset him that he was the only one. None of the girls ever got slapped, or disciplined for that matter. Axel was the golden boy, first born and the favourite. Sonic was the mistake that came with an unusual talent that freaked out everyone. He needed to be 'controlled' they would say. Apparently, pain was the only way to do that.

"Anyway" Jules spoke up, a smile back on his face, "Let's not ruin this meal, how was your day?" he asked his wife. Sonic tuned the rest out. Everyone was talking and enjoying the food, while he kept his head down, not interested in anything but his food. He was starving at this point and the moment the plate hit the table, he dived in, shoving the meal in his mouth, uncaring of the mess he made. Spaghetti had never tasted so good!

"Wow slow down you freak, you're making me feel sick" his brother said, loudly. Great, and now their dad was getting involved. "Why are you eating so fast?" he asked, almost accusingly as he stared down at what was now an empty plate. Sonic only shrugged "I'm hungry… can I have more?"

Jules raised his brow, but allowed his son to get seconds. Before he had a chance to devour that portion however, the question came. "Did you eat your lunch?"

Sonic paused for a moment, feeling the tone of the room die down as they waited for him to answer. "Um… I lost it" he said, not making eye contact. Jules raised his brow, not believing a word, "How exactly do you lose your lunch?" he asked.

"It ugh... slipped out my bag."

"Really? Your lunch box that was at the bottom of your bag, underneath your coat and School books, fell out of a zipped up bag?" Sonic felt a bead of sweat fall from his brow. Nothing got past his lawyer of a father, and right now he felt like he was on trail. "I... I left my coat at home."

His mother was the one to argue with him now. "No you didn't. I made sure you and your sister had your new coats with you, especially as you refuse to get on the bus with her" she tuned back to Jules, "He wasn't even wearing it on the way home, he walked in the rain."

The kids were watching the argument unfold, finding it amusing whenever anyone got into trouble. Especially when their dad got angry.

"You walked home in the dark during a thunder storm? You idiot, anything could have happened to you. What were you thinking?" he yelled.

Sonic felt his heart start to race, "I-I'm sorry…"

"If you didn't want to get the bus then you should have rang someone!"

"I know I just…"

"What happened to your coat?!"

"I gave it away!"Silence lingered after his sudden outburst, but Sonic knew it wouldn't last long. Consciously his hand went to his mouth, wishing he hadn't panicked. But what was the point of lying? His dad always knew and he was a terrible liar.

"You gave your coat away?" Jules repeated, trying to work out what it was Sonic just said. "You mean the 799ring designer coat I bought for you, specially made and tailored to fit. And you gave it away?"

All eyes were on him and Sonic braced himself. This wasn't going to end well, he knew it, his dad knew it, the three-year-old knew it. There was no way to escape. No turning back time.

With a deep sigh, Sonic squeezed his hands in his lap, trembling ever so slightly, and not from the cold. "Before School I saw this guy sitting on the street. He looked really cold and he was hungry, he didn't have anywhere to go. I gave him my coat so he could be warm, as well as my lunch. He needed it more then I did and I just wanted to help him.

Just like that, the gates of hell had been opened.

Jules almost knocked his chair back as he stood up angrily, "Are you kidding me?! You went up to a complete stranger, who was hanging out in front of a School, and spoke to him? Was there at least people around?"

Sonic stared at his hands "... no."

The argument quickly escalated. "You stupid careless idiot! What is the matter with you? I work cases with people like this, you have any idea what sort of trouble you could have been in?"

"I was only trying to help!"

Jules was quickly loses it however, "Help what, getting yourself killed? That guy could have been anyone. I tell you kids all the time not to talk to strangers and you decide to just walk up to some lowlife homeless criminal! He could have been a murderer, or worse he could have been a pedophile, is that what you want? You want to be a sex slave?"

Sonic had enough. He slammed his hands against the table and stood up just like his father, angrily matching the man's glare. "What would you care?! You're the one who fights for people like that!"

A line had officially been crossed, and the argument was no longer amusing. Bernadette left her food on the table and told the girls to leave, taking them by the hand when they resisted. Axel looked back between his mother and father, but he didn't want to be in the firing line any more than they did, so he left, leaving the two alone.

Jules's temper was flaring, and he was not one to be disrespected. "How dare you! You ungrateful brat, you should be thankful that I do my job well. You have a life most children can only dream of. If you really want to help then why don't you start by being grateful for what you've got!"

However, Sonic wasn't one to back down either. "Grateful? For this? You're taking away my dreams and forcing me to do what you do, why would anyone be grateful for that?"

"I'm giving you a chance in this life! And a pretty damn good one at that! You're lucky you're even still here, anyone else would have sent you off to the military research lab!"

"Oh well thank you dad, thank you for actually doing what you're supposed to do as a father, it's only thing you've done right since I was born!"

"That's it, you need to clean your mouth out!" The arguments had gotten out of hand and it wasn't about who could yell the loudest anymore. Jules grabbed Sonic's wrist and pulled him out of the room.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Sonic screamed out, fighting as his father dragged him towards the stairs. He knew what was going to happen and he didn't want to go through it again. Soap in his mouth while being threatened with a bath filled up with water. His father always used fear as a punishment. Sadly, this one always worked.

Not wanting to go through that trauma again, Sonic dug his heels in the ground, putting as much weight as he could. When that didn't work, he kicked out, giving his father a struggle. But the man wasn't giving in easily. Jules pulled him back, lurching Sonic forward and grabbing around his stomach, trying to lift him in the air. However Sonic's feet were running along the floor, trying to get himself as far away as he could. Only, his legs were a lot stronger then most thirteen-year-old's. The more he ran against the floor, the harder his father found it to hold him back. At this point Jules was sweating just trying to drag the boy towards the stairs. It was a game of tug of war and the quicker Sonic was running to pull himself away, the more Jules was ignoring the warning sign. As Sonic's feet raced, starting to become a blur, smoke was burning against the floor boards.

At that moment, his younger sister Sally ran out the kitchen, Skyler chasing her. As the arguing had stopped, everyone had feel it safe to move around again. This however, no one saw coming.

Sonic pulled himself free from his father, but he went to fast. A lightning bolt struck across the room… directly into Sally.

The girl screamed in pain as she was thrown into a glass cabinet with priceless ornaments, everything shattering on top of her. She was covered in scratches, glass piercing her flesh.

Sonic stood in horror, his hands shaking as all he saw was blood. His father was straight there, picking the screaming girl up in his arms and comforting her as much as he could. His mother rushed out, panicked by the screams and burst into tears when she saw her precious little girl. Skyler ran back into the kitchen to tell her sisters and brother, frightened and crying at what she saw her Sonic do.

She just… wouldn't stop crying…

He couldn't take it anymore. Sonic ran upstairs, using his curse to do so. He had to get away! _He had to leave!_

Sonic ran into his room, heart pounding and head spinning out of control. Tears fell down his cheeks but he didn't care. The door was slammed close and he pushed the chest of draws along the room so that he was barricaded in. He shared this room with his brother… and he knew what would happen tonight. Axel looked for any opportunity to put him in his place. He said he was dangerous... everyone said it. His mother and father… they were afraid of him, and this is why!

Sonic fell to his knees, hands gripping his ears as he cried, sobbing over what he had done. Why did he have to fight? Why couldn't he have just done as he was told?

All because he wanted to help people… because he helped that stupid guy outside the School. If he hadn't been there none of this would have happened!

No… Who was he kidding? It was a matter of time before this would have happened. This was completely his fault. He almost killed his baby sister, and his family was never going to forgive him for this. Sally would never feel safe around him, none of them would. He had worked so hard trying to get his father's trust, praying that doing so would mean getting to choose his own path in life. But ever since he said no to the summer project… everything had fallen apart.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't take this anymore.

Sonic couldn't be perfect when he was so far from it.

He got up from the floor and wiped his eyes, but it didn't prevent fresh tears from falling. He looked around the room that he shared with his brother. It was big and full of memories… only none of them were pleasant. Just memories of pain, ridicule, and torment.

His family. They were seen as so close and happy… but just not with him.

A shakey breath filled his lungs, and Sonic knew what he had to do.

He walked to his bed and pulled a brown rucksack from under his bed. His room was filled with so much stuff, gifts from his father, expensive toys and latest gadgets, yet all he placed in his bag was a torch, spare gloves and soaks, and a framed photo of his family. That was all he needed. But in the back of his mind, there was something else he wanted to take with him, which normally he would never dream of taking. But why should he care now?

Sonic walked to his brother's side of the room, and opened the closet. Inside he looked around until he found it. An old, red hooded jacket that he hadn't warn in years.

It all suddenly hit him now, and the realisation was becoming too much to bare. He was never going to see his family again.

With a bitter sob, Sonic held the jacket to his face and cried into it. His brother was never nice to him, except for once where a bully had pushed him to the ground, and his brother found him outside upset. He let him wear his jacket for the rest of the day, knowing how much Sonic loved it. It was the only memory Sonic would have that made him believe his brother did care, even just a little.

Lifting his face and staring out the window, Sonic hugged the jacket close to his heart. He knew he would have to go. He could stay where he didn't belong. What he would do or where he would go he was unsure, but anywhere was better than this.

There was just one last thing he needed to do.

Taking a pen and a piece of paper out from the draw of his desk, he sat down on the floor.

Only two words were written on that piece of paper. He had folded it in half and grabbed his bag, the jacket still firmly in his hands. Unbarring the door, there was no one outside ready to hurt him. So, Sonic took his chance, and went to the room of his parents. He could still hear his sister crying down the stairs while Axel's voice shouted about how he'd kill him.

Sonic couldn't listen to it, he had to block it out. He snuck into his parent's room, being as quiet as possible. He placed the note on the pillow of the bed, making sure it would be seen.

The last thing he did was go to his father's brief case. Opening it, he found what he needed. The wallet. Sonic took everything that was inside. The ring notes that always padded out the wallet further then it should have, he stole it all.

With one last look around the room, the young hedgehog hesitated.

But he knew… he knew what he had to do.

"… goodbye" he whispered, before leaving through the window, never planning to come back.

* * *

 **And there's chapter 2 done. Yes, I am that sad, I brought back the hoodie from my last story. I can't help it, Sonic in a hoodie is adorable. Anyway, thank you if you've read this far down, I hope the story is worth continuing with. Please leave a review letting me know what you think, what you'd like to see and any suggestions.**

 **Thank you guys for the support and I hope you have enjoyed so far. To be continued!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Whoo update, and honestly I stayed up till 1am to get this done before I go on holiday. Why do I have to write so much? Anyways I just want to give a big big massive thank you for the butt load of reviews on the last chapter. It was a lot more then I expected and it really helped spur me on to update quicker. Thank you guys so much, I appreciate it all!**

 **Warning of mature content in this chapter, Shadow being a nasty pasty again tut tut.**

 **Hope you enjoy ;)**

* * *

 _Two years later._

It was beyond midnight, out in the middle of nowhere and nothing more to do then wait. Shadow was not one to succumb to boredom, but this was an exception. The target; a dealer illegally selling lethal poisons and drugs on the black market, suspected for arson and attempted murder. The location; a wooden shed, in the middle of a forest. The police have attempted to apprehend the man many times, each failing miserably. The case was then passed on to G.U.N, as the crimes were getting more severe. Even they however, failed in catching the man responsible. So, what happens when the pathetic humans can't deal with their own kind? They recruit agent Shadow. Not that he had any better cases to work on. At first, he had no interest in such a mission, however recent evidence showed that this wasn't an independent criminal, and when considering the link, he knew this was the closest chance he had.

So, Shadow took his orders and waited in the forest, behind a tree, with a several agents on hand to back him up, not that he needed it. The gun was steady in his hands, loaded and ready at the pull of the trigger, which his finger supported eagerly. Or rather it had been, five hours ago, when he first arrived.

The target was scheduled to arrive at the shed for late afternoon, and he was nowhere to be seen. This didn't mean that they could give up and go home however, they had to wait it out until he showed. With an ample sigh, Shadow was sat on the grass with his arms crossed, gun resting next to him.

"This is pointless, he's not going to show up!" a soldier whispered, obviously complaining as he was on lookout duty, and was feeling as disheartened as everyone else.

Shadow looked at him, and with one glare from his crimson eyes the soldier gulped and kept quiet, going back to watching. "He will come" was all Shadow said.

He had confidence in their plan (his plan). This was the targets work place, if he was going to do a job he'd have to come here first. That was when they would strike.

It wasn't until another hour though until the sound of a motorbike engine hissed in the distance. Shadow's ears picked up, and he was quick to his feet, gun back in his hand. The soldiers were quick to act, getting back into position, raising their bullet proof shields and readying their guns. From that one noise, everyone had snapped awake, and focused again on their mission.

Shadow was ready, he needed this man alive. He needed him to talk.

A light twisted past the trees, the sound of an engine getting louder. Everyone was silent, keeping out of sight as a motorbike rode up to the shed, stopping by the door. The man got off the bike, his face concealed by the low drawn hood on his jacket. He walked up to the shed, boots crunching along the dried grass.

Finally, they had him.

"FREEZE!"

Startled the man turned around. He was faced with the G.U.N army, shields risen high and red lasers from their guns aimed directly at him.

He may have had a trick up his sleeve or so, but just as he was about to reach into his jacket, a light emitted from behind. He looked just in time to see Shadow swing at kick at his head, pushing him to the ground and causing the hood to fall back.

Just as suspected.

The man's eyes were completely removed. In their place was a machine. Robotic eyes, black as the night, with holographic red irises.

The criminal made no effort to hide them. He growled out wildly, his artificial eyes dilating and sparking as he did so.

Shadow kicked into his ribcage, gun aimed and readied. He had waited too long for this moment, and he wasn't going to fail. "Where is Eggman?" he forcefully asked.

When the criminal didn't answer, he kicked him again. The man coughed, blood spitting from his lips. Shadow was losing his patience. Kneeling, he placed the gun against the nip of the neck, but the criminal never flinched. "I will not ask you again. Tell me where Eggman is, or die" he dug the gun into the skin, his voice intimidating and dangerous.

Yet, all the criminal did was laughed.

Raising his brow, Shadow held back slightly as the man turned his head, red eyes meeting red. The smile, drowned in blood, was unsettling, and Shadow scowled as he held the gun out once again.

"Don't worry… I'll save you the guilt."

"NOOO!"

It was too late. The criminal had lurched forward, hand grabbing the gun and forcing Shadow to pull the trigger. He laid there, drawing his final breath, before his holographic eyes faded to black.

The soldiers lowered their weapons, rushing over to check on the body.

Shadow stood back and let them, his mind uncaring for such a pointless task. He couldn't stop his fists from shaking, fists balled up too tightly as if he were trying to snap someone's neck. He was staring at the ground, teeth bared and seething uncontrollably. There was too much anger for him to contain anymore. Shadow threw his gun down, and threw his fist into the nearest tree. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" he cursed, fists going back and forth into the unfortunate tree, slices of bark showering as he did so.

"I was so close! I needed him alive!"

* * *

It was near morning, and everyone involved with the mission still had no chance to sleep.

No matter how an operation was carried out, paper work would always be mandatory. There was no exception for Agent Shadow either, who sat at a desk with his slammed against the table, buried under piles and piles of paper. There was only him there, it wasn't his official base and so therefore was given a temporary private office while he assisted on missions. Now, he was glad for the privacy, no one would be able to hear the light snoring against the desk, or see the drool puddle for that matter.

So he thought anyway.

"Well isn't that just precious" a deep, flirtatious voice said.

Being a light sleeper, Shadow picked up on the intrusion and shot up from his desk, an uncharacteristic snort coming from his nose. He quickly straightened his papers, trying to cover the fact he had been sleeping. What didn't help however was the piece of paper stuck to his face, which he angrily grabbed and crumpled into a ball.

After witnessing such a sight, how could the intruder not laugh.

Shadow furrowed his brow at her, growling lowly as he often did. "What do you want?"

The white bat moved away from the door, closing it behind her before pouting her lips, "Why sweetie, do I need a reason to visit a friend?" she teased.

It was not appreciated as Shadow attempted to get back to his work. "Yes. If you don't have anything useful to tell me then get out."

Rouge sighed, shrugging her shoulders, "Always business with you, isn't it? I heard about what happened, the bad guy took the easy way out" she said, sitting herself down on the side of the desk, despite there being chairs.

Shadow was quiet at first, closing his eyes as if he was meditating. "I was so close this time. We've never known how Eggman operates until recent events. If he's been using people then we could have taken them in and get them to talk, but so far not one of them have made it back alive. I don't understand why they all chose to die rather than talk."

Rouge looked past the black hedgehog and down to the previous reports that had been written up, regarding these cases. She picked one of them up, carelessly skimming over it. "I don't know what to tell you Shadow. You've spent nearly your whole career trying to track this Eggman down, even to the point of putting yourself in ruin. We don't know what he's fully capable of, maybe there really is a fate worse than death."

It was good point, but Shadow still wasn't convinced. "There has to be someone willing to make a deal. This doesn't make any sense."

"Sweetie, this whole case doesn't make sense. One minute he's using robots, the next it's convicted criminals, then it's robots again… There just doesn't seem to be a consistent enough pattern to connect these crimes to Eggman."

"It is Eggman! There's nothing more to it!" Shadow snapped, standing up and walking towards the door, done with this conversation.

Rouge smiled, following right behind. "Oh please, when was there a crime you didn't think was Eggman, even after catching the criminal. Face it, you don't have a good enough lead. In fact it's so rare for you to find a genuine lead because you go around accusing every criminal of working for Eggman that no one can tell if they are or not. I think even the suspects get confused if they are or not. This was your only real case in the past six months."

Shadow kept on walking, trying to ignore her at first, but feeling sucked into the argument due to a point needing to be made. "I have substantial leads that will eventually get me to Eggman."

"Reeeaaally?" the bat laughed, knowing that no matter how serious and intimidating Shadow may look, he had nothing to back up his argument. "Name one that didn't just pull the trigger on himself."

"…"

"Ha! Looks like I was right, oh what a surprise" she joked, linking her arm with Shadow's, who gave a warning in the form of a glare, but as usual she didn't heed it. "Aww don't be like that sweetie. After all I have good news. The Commander needs you at HQ in Station Square."

Shadow stopped walking and turned to her. "Why?"

Rouge grinned, preparing herself for the face that no doubt Shadow would make, and not wanting to miss it. She imagined it will be like a child getting a puppy on Christmas day after being told for months he would never get one. "Let's just say we found a lead, and this one is also weird enough to be linked to Eggman."

It wasn't the face she had hoped for, but she could have sworn there was the slightest hint of a smile.

* * *

Station Square. One of the largest cities in South Hill. And that naturally attracted the biggest crime rate also. G.U.N headquarters was based on the outskirts of the city, hidden away and heavily guarded to keep it as secure as possible.

Shadow hadn't been there in two years. Part of his missions involved travelling the world, and he only agreed to missions that was worth his time. The General always radioed or sent messages through fellow agents. It was rare for him to request a meeting, and that was with anyone. So whatever this was about, it was serious.

They had taken the chopper to Station Square, one of the G.U.N piolets instructed to do so, but even so, the journey was longer then they would have liked. Rouge was obviously used to air travel, but liked to complain, whereas Shadow would ignore everyone and sleep standing in the corner.

It was seven hours until they landed, and there wasn't so much as a friendly greeting awaiting them at the entrance.

G.U.N was known for taking on ex-convicts, mostly if their skills were beneficial. Unfortunately, this was how a lot of people still saw them. Rouge, the glamorous, beautiful thief that would steal your heart as well as your prize possession's. Priceless gems were all she ever cared about, and her skills couldn't be matched by anyone. It was simple for G.U.N to strike a deal with her. A clean record and valuable jewels for every job she completed, how could she say no?

Shadow's case was a lot different. He took no convincing. All he wanted was redemption and the chance of revenge.

This was the reason everyone moved out of the way as soon as they saw the two special agents walk towards them. No one made eye contact and no one said a word.

"My, my, is it something I said?" Rouge joked to herself, uncaring about the ignorant attitude of others. Shadow paid no attention. He wanted to get to this case and fast. Speeding ahead, he raced down the hallways until he was at the General's office. He didn't knock, or wait for Rouge, he just walked in.

"Shadow, you actually showed up." Standing by the window of a very organised and clean office, was the General. An older man with grey hair and known best for his serious personality. He was not one to expect sympathy from, or one to accept failure. Nobody in their right mind would show disrespect towards him… except for Shadow.

"What's the mission and how is it related to Eggman?" was all the black hedgehog said, getting to the point.

The General scoffed, "Two years and still no different. What was to be expected?" he turned from the window, his blue and brown eyes looking past Shadow, resting on the door instead as the female bat walked in, clearly out of breath. "You… jerk… Why did you run off?" she complained, walking up to her old partner's side. "General" she acknowledged, giving the man a flirtatious salute. It wasn't proper but he had come to expect that from her now. "Agent Rouge. I trust you had a good flight."

"Ugh, if by good you mean cheap! Seriously would it kill you to put a coffee machine in one of those things?"

"That's not important, what is the mission?" Shadow asked again, stopping a sort of conversation from happening before he was stuck listening to pointless chatter and wasting time.

Shaking his head, the General groaned under his breath. He only wished he didn't have to involve the living weapon, unfortunately desperate measures were called for. "Follow me" he ordered, taking out his identification card and leading the two agents out of his office.

They followed him to a room they were familiar with already, the Virtual Analytic Operations control room. This was where video footage, such as security tapes, photographs or anything of that nature was dealt with. The team's job was to analyse the different medias, fix broken footage, dissect sound frequencies and anything else that is required to aid a case. It was a useful team, but what the General needed Shadow for was beyond him at this point. He had no experience in this field.

Swiping his card, the General was allowed instant access. As Rouge and Shadow were field agents and no longer had an official base, they were only allowed visitor access when unaccompanied by a higher up. Something they did not appreciate.

"So what's the deal? You want us to look at pretty pictures?" Rouge asked, eyes scanning over all the people in basic uniforms, tapping away at their computers and lost in their work. So much so they didn't acknowledge the General entering the room.

"Not quite, but I assure you this will be worth your time."

Shadow grunted, but truthfully, he was curious. At the back of the room was a private room, where the head of the team worked alone. It was only a small area, with a chair and desk, the appropriate amount of file cabinets and the odd house plant. There was a computer on the desk, as well as several large screens monitors up on the wall.

Then there was the man himself, a large green crocodile that was busy listening to his music through golden headphones and resting his feet on the table that he didn't notice he hand company. Not until the General reached over and snatched the headphones off.

"GAAHH" the crocodile yelped, falling off his chair from the sudden surprise. He quickly rushed to his feet when realising who it was that disturbed him. "General!" He quickly saluted, "You made it to the computer room! I waited back, just like you said, until Shadow came…"

"Yes, yes, that's enough Vector, just get on with it won't you?" the General scowled, throwing the headphones on the desk. Vector did just as he was told. He rushed to his computer, tapping away at the keys, mumbling sorry excuses to himself, to which no one paid attention.

"Anyway, the reason I called you both here is because of recent robberies that have been occurring all over Station Square."

Shadow crossed his arms, a slight irritation already getting to him. "Robberies? That's all? This was supposed to lead me to Eggman!"

"And hopefully it will, if you let me finish!" the General said, glaring down at the black hedgehog. "The robberies have been all the same. The hits are mostly jeweller, occasionally a bank or gadget shop. Thousands of rings worth is being stolen every time, in some cases the shops have been cleaned out. It started out as only being a couple of shops a month or so, but now it seems to be happening every day. The Police have had no leads, no evidence to suggest who is behind it is found, and the manner of the robberies is bizarre to say the least." He clicked his fingers at Vector, and while clueless at first the crocodile soon remembered that was his cue to play the video.

Up on the monitors was the footage from a security camera from a jewellery shop. Rouge's eyes quickly lit up, her attention fully on the video. "Oh my… Is that the Rainbow Star jewellers I see there?" she asked, swooning over the elegant interior and the many, many, glistening gems on show.

"The what?"

"Rainbow Star is designer. A ring from them will cost you the same price as a car."

"Yes well with what this thief took they'll have gotten more than just a car" said the General.

In the footage, they could see the security protecting all the glass cases containing the priceless jewels. Laser trigger senses, security cameras on each corner, and even a prison dome on their most priceless items. Yet, in what could have only been a second, something jittered and everything was gone.

"Wait what?" Shadow snapped, eyes scanning over the now smashed, empty glass cases. Everything was gone. The alarms had been triggered, red flashing lights with nosy sirens to alert and intruder was set off, yet no one was there. Everything was completely gone.

"Play that again!" he ordered the crocodile. Vector shook his head but did as he was told. The video played again, but all that happened was what they saw before. A jitter in the camera and then suddenly everything was gone and the alarms were set off.

To say Rouge was astounded was to say the least. "Well, I know who I'll be going to for advice."

Shadow ignored her. "This doesn't make sense. How could it just all be gone?"

The General walked over to the computer, "This is what we struggled with. Therefore, these robberies are strange, everything is being stolen in a matter of a second. Vector" he signalled again. Vector brought up another video. Again, the same thing, but in a different jewellery shop. Everything is under tight security, doors bolted and trigger senses. But the same thing happened. In a matter of a second, the camera jolted and everything in the store that was worth money was gone.

"This… is impossible… even if they used a chaos emerald, the energy would have destroyed the cameras and the power would be cut off. There's no way a regular person could do this" Shadow thought out loudly. His eyes never drifted from the video that played on a loop.

"What's that on the floor?"

Shadow looked up to where Rouge was pointing. And true enough, even with the poor quality of a security camera, there was a piece of paper left on the floor, despite it not having been there before.

"That is the only evidence we ever find after the robbery has occurred. It's a note the thief leaves behind. All it says is _I'm sorry_." The General answered. Vector was eager to join in, "Yeah he leaves it at every crime scene. Personally, I think it's just a way to mock the police force."

"No one asked you Vector" the General growled. He then turned back to the agents. "We ran the handwriting through the system but it came up with nothing. However, it is possible it was written with the less dominant hand, as it resembles how a child would write."

"Unless a child is the one writing the note?"

"Possibly. There's simply no way of knowing. At first I was suspecting Eggman myself, maybe he invented a new machine that can do this. If that is the case however then the notes don't fit the picture. Why Eggman would leave a badly written apology is beyond me."

Shadow shook his head, "He wouldn't. That's not how he works. Eggman will do anything to keep his name away from the crimes, that's how he's gotten away with so much in the past."

"An underground mob leader, yes I agree. He's evil but he's not stupid. My worry is that if this is related to Eggman then what he's planning to do next once he's got the funds. There is something else however" the General said, nodding towards the monitor. "We slowed down the footage to one of the crimes that occurred at the bank. This one was done in the early morning, citizens there and all. Look what happens."

On that note Vector played the video at normal speed. What they saw was a normal bank operating in a usual fashion. People waiting in a que to be served and everything was quiet. Then suddenly, again in no more than a second, the camera jolted, but the people all fell to the ground as if being knocked over by an invisible force. And then, the safe door was wide opened and the money was gone. Only the apology note left in its place.

"This can't be right!" Shadow gasped, watching at the people stumbled up to their feet, wondering what had just happened before noticing their bags had been stolen as well.

"Just what we thought also, but then we saw this…"

Vector played the video once again, but this time he slowed it down. It had taken the team a while, but the only way to see what was going on was to slow the video to a thousand time's it's normal speed. Something that was nearly impossible on basic programing. But what it revealed was probably the only thing that made it worth doing so.

Shadow's eyes went wide when he saw it. It was still fast and the quality wasn't perfect, but he knew what it was. The moment the camera jittered, a gush of wind blew everyone down. When slowed completely down, what he saw was a streak of blue, zig zagging through the crowd and snatching the bags as it went. The moment it got to the safe door, it slowed down enough for the camera to pick up a shape. At that point Vector paused the video. He zoomed in on the thief and enhanced the quality to 100%.

It wasn't a robot.

The back was turned, but it was clear what they could see. A mobian with blue fur, wearing a red jacket, with the hood pulled up to cover the head, and a brown scarf covering the face.

This was a person… a person was doing this.

"Eggman… He's been using criminals lately and enhancing them with machines… this has to be his work!" Shadow exclaimed, fist slamming against the desk.

The General, for the first time in a while, smiled. "Exactly. This is why we need you Shadow. Will you take on the case?" He held out his hand, and Shadow accepted it without a second thought.

"Gladly."

* * *

 **Boom! How is Shadow gonna catch this guy? You'll have to wait and see (wink)**

 **As you may have noticed Shadow isn't the ultimate life form in this story, he kinda has a different background but that's not gonna be a big thing I don't think. So basically this is not sticking with cannon lol.**

 **Anyways I hope you enjoyed, and please show support by leaving a review, and hopefully next update will be when I come back from holiday whoo. Till then bah bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys I'm finally back :D I had a great holiday, and I'm back into writing again.**

 **Gonna admit this was the chapter I dreaded, mostly because I feel the good stuff is coming later where we can get into the fluff. Loves me some fluff o3o**

 **I have to say I'm really surprised, I was not expecting that many reviews on the last chapter, so thank you thank you thank you so much!**

 **As always I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

Time wasn't going to be wasted. Shadow had seen how the impossible robberies were happening and there was no doubt in his mind who was responsible. For years Eggman had used robots to do his dirty work. He held an underground organisation, supplying criminals with everything they needed on the black market. So far, any effort to catch him as been impossible. Even now that he's using people as his minions, they'd rather take their own life then speak out against the madman. This time will be different… it had to be.

An operation had been set up; a trap. It was the one thing Shadow knew Eggman, or any thief for that matter, could resist. A Chaos Emerald.

So far on the records four emeralds had been stolen, all suspects leading to Eggman. As a measure, G.U.N had searched out the last remaining three and kept them under security. Despite his efforts, the General refused to allow Shadow use of the Chaos Emeralds as bait. So there was only the next best thing.

A fake.

Two days ago it had broadcasted on the news that Station Square National Museum would be displaying a genuine Chaos Emerald for three days only. They needed time to get the word out. It had generated such a buzz that crowds gathered outside of the museum, ready to see the powerful gem. Shadow spent the two days on guard, standing in the corner of the room where the emerald was displayed on a pedestal, sealed under bullet proof glass. He felt it in his gut. The robber must have come to check out the challenge. His crimson eyes scanned anyone with blue coloured fur, and there were a lot of citizens. Blue wasn't a usual colour among the mobian race, but there was plenty of blue in the room, along with greens, reds, pinks, every colour there basically was. Not surprising however, the Chaos Emerald was a big deal, but more so for mobians then humans. Mobians had the ability to sense Chaos energy, each having their own personal level of doing so. Shadow was one of the few who could sense high amounts of chaos, and even use it to further his power. He could only wonder if the criminal could do the same, given the impossible power he possessed. Shadow could run fast, but even he couldn't break the sound barrier.

The emerald looked no different from the real deal, and to disperse any suspicion, the pedestal was filled with energy rings, mimicking the sense of Chaos energy. Now all there was to do is wait.

Nothing happened in the three days, but that was expected. G.U.N had set up agents and made their top priority to protect the people should anything happen. There was only one night left and Shadow knew this had to be the night.

It was rumoured the emerald would be shipped out to South Villa, a quiet city under heavy guard as the arise of a war was soon to break out. The criminal needed to grab the emerald now or they'd lose it for good. South Villa was on the other side of the planet.

Shadow hid carefully behind one of the historic statues that were on display in the same room as the emerald. Lasor senses were activated all around the room, four G.U.N guards stood at each wall, guns in arms and on high alert. The glass container holding the emerald had a think armour sealing the gem away. Cameras were everywhere, recording what was to take place.

It was all excessive for a fake, however they needed to make it as real as possible. If the criminal was going to strike, he would expect no less.

Although… was this too much? The thief stole jewels, and money from the banks by running fast and snatching what he could. Would he ignore the emerald if the security was too hard to bypass? No. Eggman would want the emerald no matter what. If this guy was working for Eggman he'd be here.

Shadow shook his head, he had been doubting himself so much lately he was losing focus. He activated the communicator on his wrist. "SkyWatch, it is currently 500 hours, I'm requesting an update, what do you see?" he whispered, being as silent as he could. A voice replied in the ear piece he wore.

"Sweetie why so formal?"

"Just tell me what you see."

"Hmm fine. There were a few suspicious men hanging around but none of which match our description. Turns out they only wanted to relieve themselves against the building."

"Nice" Shadow sighed. Time was running out, why did this keep happening?

"Other than that I- Oh my… Shadow red alert! He's here, he's already ran into the building!"

The sound of an engine like boom cracked through the air, and as Shadow turned to look past the statue, he had barely anytime to register what was happening. A flash of blue shoot passed the laser beams, setting the high alarms off. The room was on lockdown, door barriers being activated to seal anyone inside the room as it all flashed red.

The guards opened fire. The orders were to keep the thief alive at all cost, so instead of bullets they were to use tranquilisers. Shadow was also to use tranquilisers, be he always kept a loaded handgun on him, just in case.

Despite their efforts, not one shot reached the blue spinning ball. Shadow watched it all. The thief used a homing attack and took out all four guards, the tranquilising darts recoiling when they hit the spin. He started to feel his hand sweat as it reached for his hand gun. He had to keep reminding himself, this was expected, stay with the plan, or this will be for nothing.

The spinning stopped, and the thief dropped to his feet perfectly. Just like in the footage they saw, he wore a red jacket, hood over his head and his face covered with a brown scarf. Shadow couldn't see who he was or what he looked like, but it didn't matter. The moment the alarms went off, G.U.N had the signal to surround the building. Rouge had the air team under her control, and she would have no problem in fulfilling her part in the mission. Shadow stood his ground, he wouldn't blow it this time.

The thief ignored the continuous alarm. His eyes fixated on the metal cylinder, containing the emerald.

Shadow waiting.

The thief didn't run this time. He walked up the steps towards the pedestal, and stood for a moment. Staring at it. Possibly sensing the Chaos Energy. Either way he seemed sure. He looked back at the door, to see if anyone was coming. No one.

So then, with one, swift kick, he smashed through the metal barrier, and bullet proof glass all at once. Shadow had never seen anything like it! Shards of glass and metal rained along the floor, and the thief stood up right once again, despite the bleeding from the lance of his leg.

The fake emerald was exposed, shining powerfully as if it were the real thing.

Shadow looked up to the corner of the ceiling. Behind one of the decretive pillars was an air vent. Just as planned, Rouge had snuck through, keeping control of the air team if they should need them. Now, however, it was only them two against a powerful criminal. They needed to get this done! They were the best G.U.N had. Shadow gave her the signal, and the trap was underway.

Rouge held a remote with one red button on it. She pressed it down.

The thief reached out his hand. There was no one around and he destroyed all the cameras when taking out the guards. If this really was a Chaos Emerald, then he wanted to feel it's power.

He touched the emerald with his fingertips, then screamed out as electric bolts shot through his body.

"NOW!" Rouge dived down, using her powerful wings to knock the thief back from the emerald, sending him skidding across the floor. Shadow ran to him, gun held out as he aimed for the legs. Wasn't fast enough. Before he knew it the thief span in a ball and dashed into him. Shadow felt the wind leave his lugs as he smashed against the wall, cracks visible from the impact. Whoever the hell this guy is, he was strong… Too strong!

Rouge didn't hesitate. The thief ran to the emerald once again and tried to take it, but the moment he touched it he felt the electric burn his body. Rouge grabbed his hood, pulling it off and revealing a head of quills. She dragged him away from the stone, kicking at the back of his knees to get him immobile. He fought back though. Reaching up to grab her hair, he pulled her over his head and slammed her into the floor, then pulled his hood over his head.

"Rouge!" Shadow gasped, seeing her groan in pain as she laid there. He felt his breath begin to heave, and seething chilled his teeth. Eyes fixed on nothing but the criminal, Shadow held out his gun and opened fire.

The thief dodged every dart, almost scaling the pillars and running along the walls. There was no way out, but he seemed uninterested in leaving, not until he got the emerald, which he kept coming back to, only to experience the same shock. Could he seriously not work it out?

"Rouge I need you to distract him" Shadow said, pulling the bat up as she was slightly dazed. But she was a tough woman, she shook it off and focused on the job.

Taking to the air, the bat swooped down at the blue criminal, swinging her leg out in a move she called swivel kick. The thief leapt back, dodging everything she threw at him. Shadow ran up behind, punching the centre of his spine. The thief cried out and fell to his knees. Rouge took her chance, she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed him in a headlock. As his hands came up to stop her, she grabbed them in her hands and wrestled to secure him. Shadow kneeled also, securing the thief's legs under his own. The gun was held against the arm, and he fired.

But… nothing happened.

"What?" Shadow gasped, staring at the dart that had broken against the thief's skin. He took his chance. Pulling down the scarf, the thief bit down on Rouge's hand. In pain she yelped, letting go in a moment of weakness.

The darts weren't working, Shadow had no other option.

The thief was about to swing his fist at Shadow, but in one move Shadow pulled out his hand gun and fired at the criminal's ankle.

Shadow could barely hear anything other than the sound of his own breathing. The thief had thrown him off, but screamed out, lying on the floor helplessly and unable to move, his hood uncovering his head. Shadow almost dropped his gun, finally getting his breath back. They had done it… finally. It wasn't over yet though.

Walking around the trembling body, Shadow stood to be in front. Aggressively he reached down and grabbed the thief's wrist, dragging him back up to his knees. He held the gun up to the masks man forehead. "GET UP! TO YOUR FEET NOW!" Shadow growled at him, doing so to show he wasn't going to mess around.

However, to his own surprise, the thief acted in a way he had never expected. All the other criminals who worked for Eggman taunted him, laughed at him, or even lashed out one final time. They were all vile men who took their pride to the grave. This one however, the most powerful criminal Shadow had ever encountered, did not.

He pleaded. Green eyes wide and fearful while his body shook desperately.

"P-please… y-you have t-to let me go" the thief begged. Something struck Shadow about his voice though. It was… youthful. But he couldn't show weakness, this could be an act to escape.

His brows furrowed deeply. "You'll get no sympathy from me Criminal. Admit it! You're working for Eggman!"

"No! P-please…"

"ADMIT IT!"

"I NEED TO GO HOME" the thief cried out. Shadow said nothing more. With the gun in hand he swung it at the thief's face, and with that one quick motion the scarf fell, and the thief spat out blood. Angered, tired and baring little tolerance, Shadow struck him once again, causing the thief to now choke. Breathing unsteady, and with a heartbeat racing so badly his chest ached, the thief finally found the strength to look back at the agent, to look directly into his eyes.

Shadow dropped his gun. The hold on the criminal's wrist released.

"No…" he exasperated, his palms sweating and his jaw trembling open at the boy in front of him.

 _It was him… this was the boy…_

Rouge had the handcuffs ready, and the G.U.N security was being lifted to allow the backup solders to enter the room. As Shadow dealt with the suspect, she gave the orders. "Get the standby paramedic team in here. We have four G.U.N soldiers down, and the suspect will need treatment when we get him out."

She walked over to her partner. Before she said anything, she rushed to the thief, pulling his hands behind his back and securing him in the handcuffs. "Shadow what is wrong with you? Don't just stand there when he's not secured!"

Shadow said nothing. His eyes couldn't unlock from the emerald green he had seen only a couple years ago, a boy that moved him so much that it change his life. This… was him.

"Whatever. Let's go dirt bag, move it!" Rouge ordered as she dragged the young hedgehog to his feet. He cried out against the pain, being forced to limp on his injured ankle as an army of soldiers surrounded him.

"Please! Please you don't understand!... I must go home… my brother needs me!... please!" he cried out, struggling against the agent as she led him outside. He begged everyone, screaming for them to let him go.

Everyone followed them, except for Shadow. He didn't move, but watched as the thief was dragged away. When he was the only one left, his head dipped lowly. He had never felt so much like crap before now. This was his only victory so far with the Eggman case… but this kid… he wasn't a criminal. He couldn't be…

"Sonic… What happened to you?"

* * *

 **Dun Duuun!**

 **Poor Sonic can't catch a break.**

 **Sorry this chapter wasn't as long as the last one, but this is all I could add in for this scene. Next chapter should be longer as there's more to cover, but we shall see.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter please share the love and leave a review, kick me up the butt to write more or let me know what you'd like to see happen. All suggestions are helpful :)**

 **Till next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Woop new chapter :D**

 **Sorry this one isn't that long either, but it get's the plot moving. Also I just want people to know, there is reasons why Sonic is feeling pain as much as he should do, it was mentioned it last time and I just wanted to clarify. I don't totally suck at story telling, there is reason behind the madness haha.**

 **Next I just want thank you guys again for all the reviews, I am so buzzing and over the moon! I normally don't get so many reviews on the first couple of chapters so this is amazing, it really makes me have faith in this story and I just hope no one is disappointed with it.**

 **Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

The operation was a success, and the captive was taken back to H.Q. Shadow hadn't said a word since.

The black furred hedgehog sat at his old desk, the one he had before given his world traveling missions. Anyone who saw him would have sworn he was an empty shell. He sat, with his eyes opened, staring off into the distance in a trance like state. Never had he gone so long without blinking. Even when a floating cup of coffee danced in front of his face, before being placed on the desk.

"Sweetie there's no need to stare, if you want a kiss then just ask" a familiar voice charmed playfully. Finally, Shadow re-entered the real world, blinking and shaking his head, all before the famous scowl returned.

"Oh come on, don't be like that. Cheer up, we finally got a live one" Rouge laughed, before sitting down next to him on the desk. Shadow swivelled the chair away from her, grunting while doing so. "That isn't funny" he stated. Rouge simply laughed, "Gee's lighten up will you? You shouldn't be here sulking, you should be celebrating. Your first real lead to Eggman. The kid's down in the emergency department, you wanna go and badger him a little? Make him wet himself before the interview even begins?" she smiled.

Shadow stood up from his chair and walked towards the wall, keeping his back to her at all time. "I'm not doing that" was all he said.

Rouge raised her brow, "Excuse me? That's what's what you normally do" she argued, but instead of getting a response, Shadow just walked away, leaving her behind in his old office.

The white bat rolled her eyes, "Unbelievable. Shadow wait up!"

It wasn't long for her to catch up, she already had a good idea where he was going. "Would it kill you to stop walking off like that?" she huffed, straighten her gloves after having to run.

"I need to make sure he's okay" Shadow said, taking her by surprise.

"Who, the prisoner? Why would you care? You shot him in the foot."

It didn't go unnoticed when Shadow suddenly flinched at her words. "Shad-"

"He was terrified. I need to know what Eggman did to him" and with that he didn't wait any longer. Using his own impressive speed, he ran off down the corridor, once again leaving his partner alone, confused and annoyed.

It was an often scenario that prisoners would get injured during capture, hence for the interest of safety to the public, G.U.N had their own personal hospital, designed to restrain dangerous criminals while treating them medically. The Doctors and Nurses had been highly trained in self-defence, and how to handle a situation if it got out of hand. Usually that was the case, but there had never been anything too serious that they couldn't handle.

Today however, was a new day.

"Shadow. Just the rodent I wanted to see" the General greeted. He simply stood outside of the Emergency room, almost guarding the door as he stood in the way should anyone try to get in.

Naturally offended by the insult, Shadow chose to ignore it, as best he could anyway. "Why, is he ready to interview?" he asked, slightly curious. He had expected the treatment to the kids foot to go smoothly but not quickly… Especially this quickly, it had only been an hour, and with damage such as a gun wound, the bones in his foot must have been shattered.

It was only natural to take him by surprise when the General shook his head. "Not exactly." Without saying anything else, he simply turned towards the door and motioned for Shadow to follow.

Inside the Emergency room looked almost the same as the rest of HQ. There was a row of rooms, each one containing a hospital bed and whatever medical equipment was needed. All the treatment rooms were private, the doors being locked and an agent guarding the doors from the inside, for those just in case moments. Such as this one.

Approaching one of the end rooms, the General walked to the door, gave three knocks and waited. A moment later only two knocks were heard in return. He took out his personal identification card which gave him access to all areas, including prison cells. One swipe later and the door was opened. He didn't walk in however, he merely held out his hand to let Shadow in first. Sighing irritably, he did so, walking through with the General not so close behind before locking the door.

Shadow could have easily fallen to the ground. This was the last thing he had expected.

The once frightened, pleading teenage boy that had surely been forced into evil doings by Eggman… was now being a little git.

The blue hedgehog had only one hand cuffed to the railing of the hospital bed, the other hand, while still cuffed, was freed, by the expense of the now broken railing. He stood on the floor, refusing to lie down while pulling his hand to get free. Anyone who went anywhere near him was getting kicked, thumped, spat at, and even bitten. And for the love of chaos he found his voice and was using it to scream the building down.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

Two soldiers were trying to hold him down, but he kept lashing out, and with the strength to kick through steal and bullet proof glass, it was no wonder they had been thrown back against the wall several times. The hedgehog didn't even look like his ankle was even in pain anymore. In fact, apart from the blood, his foot looked fine.

"What is going on?" Shadow demanded, approaching one of the dazed soldiers. With a spinning head the man replied, "Ugh… we got his shoes off… then he flipped out…"

Shadow looked back to the doctor, who was trying to inch close to the blue hedgehog with a needle in his hand, most likely a sedative.

"Okay son, we're going to take this niiiiice and slow" the pretentious man smiled through seething teeth, pushing the needle as close as he could. He treated the kid like a wild animal, but then again, he was attacking anyone going near him.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Shadow looked up to the General. "You see why we needed backup. Enjoy" he said, before turning around and exiting the room, leaving Shadow to deal with this mess.

"Wait…"

"AGH!"

Spinning around, he met the unfortunate sight of the doctor receiving the backend of the needle, shoved painfully up his nose.

This had gone on long enough. Using his speed, Shadow raced behind the blue teen and grabbed his free hand. Instantly the kid kicked out, trying to knock him back, but Shadow swiftly dodged the blow, then swung his own leg out to knock the thief's foot out from under him. This resulted in a startled fall, back onto the bed. At this point the blue hedgehog was foaming at the mouth, getting completely worked up. Shadow did what he had to. He pinned the thief's wrist down above his head, then grabbed him by the throat, giving forceful, yet controlled pinches.

The anger was gone, and instantly the blue hedgehog was panicking, legs kicking out in desperation as he felt his throat tightening too much, unable to breathe as the pinching crushed against his windpipe.

"… s-stop… i-it…"

"Then control yourself from now on. Either you let the doctor do his job or I'll hand you to our undertaker instead, got it?"

It felt like an eternity to answer, but soon enough, the kicking stopped, and through heavy attempts of breathing in air, the teen managed to find it in himself to nod in agreement.

This was a crucial moment. Shadow could keep him like this, his hand crushing his throat while the doctors restrained his legs and got to work. Had this been any other criminal, then that would have been the option Shadow would have chosen. This however, wasn't any other criminal. This was the boy that had gone in late to School because he wanted a homeless lowlife to have food and water, and gave him a coat to stay warm with.

This wasn't a person deserving of punishment, not in his eyes. It had only been two years since that day, Shadow just knew that there was so much more to the story then a good kid gone bad. In his gut, he knew he could trust him… but only if the trust was mutual.

Shadow let go of his throat.

The thief gasped for air, tears strolling from his eyes as he coughed violently. The grip must have been a lot tighter then Shadow realised.

He waited for the fit to settle down, then cautious to not cause another panic, Shadow leaned his face closer to the criminal's. "Do you remember me?" he asked quickly.

It was evident in the uneasiness in his face that the blue teen was uncomfortable with how close he was. He refused to look in the agent's eyes, turning his face away angrily. "Yes… you shot me in the foot" he murmured.

"No. Before that."

There was a long pause, and the thief drew in a long, trembling breath, lungs still failing to work as they should. "No I don't, now will you get out of my face, your breath stinks!"

Shadow backed up, irritably. But he couldn't let him temper take control again, so he brushed the comment off for now.

"You told my partner that your name was Miles. Is that right?" Shadow asked, hand unconsciously squeezing harder against the thief's wrist.

The kid didn't even flinch. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Well obviously because it's my name you idiot!" the blue thief was losing his patience, a swelling in his stomach causing him to feel restless.

"Your name is Sonic, isn't it?"

Everything stopped in that moment. For the first time the thief stared up at the agent who pinned him down, eyes widened as he heard the impossible come from the man's mouth.

"How… how did…" he couldn't finish the question. He hadn't told anyone that name, no one should have been able to know.

"Lying to agents of the law is a federal offence, and currently you're looking at quite a few years in the cells as it is kid. Didn't you need to go home for something? You can kiss that possibility bye" Shadow said, cutting past the explanations. It worked, as instead of getting angry, the teen was getting worried. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Yes, my name is Sonic, a-and I did try taking the emerald, but please I do need to go back home. My little brother is waiting for me, he won't know what's happened."

It was evident how desperate Sonic was about getting back, and truthfully Shadow had no idea if it was a lie or there really was a child waiting for him. However, there were other matters to deal with now, such as the doctor with a sore nose who was waiting for them to hurry up so he could get on, and the questioning over Eggman later. But whatever he did, this was the only thing Sonic was going to care about. He needed to get home to his brother.

Shadow made up his mind. "Listen to me, I'll make you a deal. Let the doctor do his job, then we will be taking you in for questioning. Then you may give us the address and we will see to your brother."

This didn't go down well. Sonic threw his head back and stressfully moaned, struggling against his captor once again. "No… you don't understand. I have to see him, he needs me! Please, I'll do anything, I swear. Please just let me see him! Please!" he begged.

Shadow raised his brow, then it was almost like a lightbulb went off in his head. "Very well" he paused for a moment, Sonic smiling in relief "thank you-"

"However…"

The thief quickly shut up.

"If I take you back home for your brother, you will help me capture Eggman in anyway possible, agreed?"

He may as well have given Sonic the death sentence there and then. Never had Shadow seen someone turn pale so quickly.

"No… no no no, I-I can't… I can't do that, are you insane!?"

"Sonic."

"NO! I don't know anything I swear, I can't help you. I-I don't work for him!"

"If that's the case then your brother can wait as you rot in jail, mostly likely he'll starve to death if he needs you so much" with that, Shadow let go of him. He turned his back to the criminal and walked towards the door, ready to leave.

"Wait! You can't leave him!" Sonic sat up on the bed, his hand out stretched in a weak effort to stop him. There was sweat dripping down his forehead as he trembled, just as when he was captured. Shadow had never felt so uneasy staring into someone's eyes before. The emerald green orbs were so dull, shrouded with terror. What was it that Eggman did to these people that made them fear him so much?

Why would they prefer death over this?

These were the answers Shadow needed.

And Sonic may be the only person able to give them to him.

* * *

 **Oooooo what is it that Eggman does to them, duth one wonder?**

 **Please leave a review, let me know what you think and hopefully and update shall come soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello my good peeps I'm back with another update.**

 **Aaaand there's not much to say other than thank you for the reviews and hope you enjoy :P**

* * *

It had been a couple of hours waiting, but finally Rouge had found him sitting alone, drinking another cup of coffee. The black hedgehog had waited outside his old office, simply because the other guy that took over it wanted it back. He must have been impatient as he practically bolted to his feet when he saw her.

"Well?" was all he asked.

Rouge had never looked so confused in her life, at first, she didn't say anything. She couldn't find the words to begin.

"What is it? Have you got the medical reports?" Shadow asked, eyeing the folder in her hand. The white bat slowly shook her head, though not to disagree. "Shadow… there's no doubt in my mind this kid works for Eggman."

This really peeked his interest. "Why is that?"

"Come with me" Rouge said, waving her hand to beckon him along. She led him through HQ, this time heading towards one of their investigation rooms. She explained the situation while doing so. "I got the report from the doctor, apparently, Miles, or Sonic as you called him, settled down when you left, how did you manage to do that by the way?"

"Umm… I talked with him."

Rouge raised her brow, "Hm okay? Anyway, he was fine up until the blood test, he wouldn't let anyone take the jacket off him, apparently he got very possessive over it. They did however eventually get him to lift his sleeve. He was after that they said."

Unintentionally Shadow released a sign, relieved over the news. He didn't like seeing the boy first time around, never mind going through that again.

"This however, is the part that gets bizarre. They examined his foot, and it was fine."

"Wait what?!" Shadow stopped walking, his eyes locked onto the bat with little belief. Rouge could have looked back the same way, "Yup, exactly what I said. There's no broken bones, no limp when he walks, all that happened was the bullet hit the surface of the skin, didn't break anything else. All the guy needed was two stitches and that was it" she explained.

Shadow was at a loss, "That is not possible. I held the gun next to his foot, he was screaming, how can it be fine now? It's only been five hours!"

"I know, I didn't get it either. The doctor recons the initial pain was due to shock, and even the gash on his leg after kicking through the glass wasn't that bad either" Rouge said.

She had arrived at her destination and with Shadow following, she let herself into the room. It was where evidence was taken to be examined and tested on. Currently the only thing that was being examined was a pair of red shoes with white straps and golden buckles. They were being examined by a purple chameleon, wearing safety glasses and latex gloves over regular white gloves. He was holding one of the shoes and going over it with a magnifying glass.

"You know we have microscopes for that" the white bat laughed, calling his attention. The chameleon had more of a permanent scowl on his face then Shadow did.

"I'm aware of that Miss Rouge, however these would be too big to fit in the slides" he explained dryly.

Shadow rolled his eyes, "What have you found? I gather I wasn't brought here without reason."

Rouge smiled at her partner, "Nothing gets past you Sherlock. Espio be a dear and show him what you found."

Nodding, the chameleon picked up the other shoe and explained what he had found. "When the doctor checked over the prisoner's injury he found the bullet had pierced the skin but had caused no serious damage. After looking over the shoes I'm sure I know the reason why. These shoes are insulated with Kevlar, a bullet resistant material. At a distance the bullet may have ricochet, but as it was direct contact it penetrated the material, though causing only mild damage." He held the shoe up, reviling the small hole among the ankle.

Shadow was almost in awe, feeling as if a puzzle had finally been solved in his mind. "I see, so this is how he's been running so fast without damage."

"Not exactly" Rouge said, opening the file she carried in her hands. She pulled out a printed-out picture and handed it to Shadow. Instantly the hedgehog sneered at the picture, both repulsed and sympathetically. It was a picture of Sonic's feet before they had been treated, finally having removed his socks. Turns out there was a reason he didn't want those off either. The soles of his feet were covered in serious burns. There were blisters, infections and skin loss on the most sensitive areas. It was mentioned in the report that the material of the socks had healed into the wounds, causing high amounts of pain when removed. It was not a pretty sight, and it made Shadow's feet tingle just looking at it.

It wasn't the only thing Shadow noticed however. In the centre of the foots sole, there were small faded black lines. "What is this?" he asked, showing it over to Rouge.

Espio was the one to answer though. "I examined the pictures when I received them along with the shoes. It's hard to tell but I believe it's a tattoo."

"A tattoo? Why would he have a tattoo?"

"We don't know, guess you'll have to ask him in the interview" Rouge shrugged, heading back over to the door after placing the picture back in her folder. "Come on, we're done here. Thank you for the help Espio" she smiled, blowing a small kiss. Espio simply nodded in acknowledgement and got back to work. Shadow left with Rouge.

* * *

Now it was time for the moment he dreaded.

Rouge was in the secret room behind the one-sided mirror, watching everything and keeping a careful eye should anything go wrong.

Shadow was aware of this, normally it would bother him, but he wished this one time the interview could be private. That wasn't going to happen so the only option was to get on with it.

He entered the depressing small room, complete with grey walls and no windows, just that big mirror. Sitting opposite, at the table, was the blue furred prisoner. His hands were cuffed to the chair, and his head rested flat on the table, looking as if he was in a strop for being forced to come here. Shadow may have found it amusing if not for the severity of the situation.

Without saying a word, Shadow dropped the folder Rouge had given him onto the table, allowing the sudden noise to jolt the younger hedgehog from his rest, or whatever he was doing.

"I'm sorry did I disturb you?" Shadow asked sarcastically, watching as the kid took his time to registered what was going on. Maybe he really did fall asleep. "My name is Agent Shadow, I'll be conducting this…"

"You… w-why am I here? You said I could see my brother!" Sonic interrupted, pulling against his restraints again. Unfortunately, they had now put him in the chaos cuffs, no wat of snapping these things.

Shadow didn't sit down, he never did during interviews. It was always more intimidating to stand and walk around the criminal while forcing them to confess. It added to the intimidation he liked to portray. This time round though, intimidation wasn't exactly what he wanted, but he still had to look in charge. Regardless of who this kid was he wasn't going to be a pushover.

"And you may still see your brother, but first you need to answer some questions."

"NO!"

The agent raised his brow.

"You're lying to me! Soon as I say anything you'll throw me in a cell and leave him to die! You promised me you'd take me home!" Sonic shouted, aggressively struggling, possibly with the intention of attacking if he could get the chance.

However, Shadow knew he was safe, but that still didn't change the dilemma. "You're not exactly one to talk about honesty, are you?" he stated. Instantly Sonic stopped struggling. He looked down at the table, shame filling his eyes.

Opening the file, Shadow took out one of the reports. "Currently we have evidencable proof that you robbed several jewellers, banks, and local shops. You have accounts of mugging people, bodily harm to G.U.N agents while resisting arrest, and attempted heist for the Chaos Emerald. This is quite a record you got here, and it's only your first arrest. I'm curious as to how you defend yourself against this then. Oh, and the apology note is not being accounted for as a free pass."

Sonic was silent. He kept his eyes fixated on the table as his head hung low. It was like he had switched off completely, but truthfully, he didn't know what to say. Anything he said here could be used against him, and clearly that's what the Agent wanted. This much he learned from his father's stories, as the man told him and his family that if they were ever arrested say nothing until a lawyer was there. Who knew that he would actually need that advice? Though there was no way he was getting a lawyer.

Impatient already, Shadow didn't have time to waste. He slammed his fist against the table, and the younger hedgehog visibly flinched when doing so. "Answer when I speak to you" he spat, lowering his face close once again. And again, Sonic turned away, disliking the intimacy.

"Well… can you explain yourself? Was there a reason you had to steal these things?"

Silence.

"Were you forced into it?"

The teen exhaled a long, trembling breath, but he still didn't say a word.

Frustrated once again, Shadow rubbed his temples. He kept thinking to himself over and over _this is the kid that saved you, you owe him one… you can't smack children over the head anymore…_

It was an unnecessary waste of time. Of course he was going to save the little brother Sonic was fretting over, but he needed to make sure he was going to get the information he needed as well. Eggman was a mob leader, he ran the biggest illegal weapon and drug business they had ever seen, and worst of all there was no evidence to pin him down with it, despite it being obvious. Shadow needed this, he needed a slipup. A rat he could turn against Eggman, catch the man in the act. Only when Eggman is sitting in the electric chair will his memory of Maria finally rest…

There was very little option he had now. Intimidation wasn't working, that much he knew. The only way he was going to get this kid to open up to him was with trust, and sadly that wasn't something Shadow was good at showing. This teenager wasn't evil, and he needed to stop treating him as if he was. Unfortunately that's all he knew how to do… Shadow's never played the good cop before.

With a deep, unsettling sigh, Shadow pulled out the chair and sat down. He was quiet for a moment, mauling over what he should say, until finally a vague plan formulated in his head. "Okay, let's try this differently. The only way to get you home is to clear your name, this however is not going to be easy with what you're being charged with and the evidence we have. I know that you're working for Eggman, so your only choice is to take a deal with me. Tell me where Eggman is, tell me how to find him, whatever you got on him tell me, then I can let you go home to your brother."

Sonic was still quiet for a moment, but he didn't look away anymore. He was thinking, Shadow could tell by the way he bit his lip and his eyes looked like they were watching a tennis game.

"If… If I tell you… you will let me go home to my brother today?"

Shadow hesitated. _So close, so damn close!_

"No, I'm afraid not. I can only allow that clearance once Eggman is captured and prosecuted."

"But that could take months, I can't leave Tails that long! Please I'm begging you, how can you say you're here to protect people when you're willing to let a kid suffer by himself?!" he snapped, not willing to accept the rules as Shadow put them.

The black hedgehog was angry himself, though mostly because Rouge was listening and he knew she was happily tell the General if he made any promises to sneak the suspect out of the building. There was another option however, "Look, I doubt you're not as stupid as you make yourself out to be, but we're not going to leave your brother alone to suffer. The only way you can help him is by telling us where he is. Will you be willing to do that?"

Sonic looked anything but willing, his internal struggle was highly visible and he was beginning to sweat. "I-I… I don't know… What will you do with him?"

There was so much worry in his emerald eyes, almost identical to the day the kid looked at him when he was alone on the streets. All he did was worry about his brother since he was arrested, not once has he been concerned for himself or even asked what would happen to him.

Shadow knew he had to help him. The kid didn't deserve a life sentence behind bars, not when Eggman was involved to begin with. Right now, he needed someone on his side, someone to fight for _him._ There were still so many questions left to ask, even the basic questions, but the brother had to be dealt with first.

"We will bring him here, and he can stay with you while we finish the interview. Afterwards, depending on the outcome, we will look at placing him in the care of a foster family, until we locate your parents and inform them of what happened."

There was so much panic filling his chest at that very moment that Sonic forgot how to breathe, it ended up coming out in a weird sounding cough. He constantly shook his head, unable to word all the arguments and protests that ran circles in his brain. Luckily Shadow picked up on the problem and held out his hands in a calming manner, "Okay, okay, no parents. We can talk about that one later. For now let's just tend to your brother Tails, and we'll sort everything out afterwards when he's safe."

It worked as the blue teen sighed, for the first time happy over what Shadow said. It was so much to take in, but all he cared about was getting Tails out of the house and making sure he was safe. Nothing was more important than that.

But… there was one thing… one thing that he couldn't stop thinking about.

"Shadow?" he asked meekly, the fight and anger completely gone. It was a different side to him that hadn't been shown before, shy and nervous, not wanting to talk but feeling he had to. He waited for permission to carry on, only to hesitated when granted.

"Umm… when you said outcome… what does that mean for me?"

Shadow paused, unable to answer. He knew what he was about to say would not be what Sonic wanted to hear. But there was very little he could do to change the matter now.

"I think you know what that means."

It was what he feared. Shaking, the blue hedgehog's head turned away, any hope he may have held onto was now gone. He didn't know what miracle could have saved him, but now there was nothing.

Shadow had seen everything over the course of his career, yet he still found himself bewildered when a single tear ran down the prisoner's cheek, dripping past his chin as careless as the rain.

"I… can't spend my life in cage... I should have died like the rest" he whispered lowly, to the point Shadow wasn't sure he heard correctly. But he remained silent.

"Promise me... Tails will be okay, that you wont go to his parents, then… I'll… tell you everything… I'll help you catch Eggman."


	7. Chapter 7

**Well it's been a while and life has been a bitch, but here's an update so yaay :D**

 **Enjoy xx**

* * *

"I can't believe you would actually agree to this!"

"What was I supposed to do? He wants the kid so we're getting the kid."

It had barely been an hour before the blue prisoner was taken behind bars, refusing to tell them anything. The only information Shadow could get was the home address he and his "brother" lived at. Rouge had scrunched up her nose the moment she read it.

"Ugh this place is a dump" she scowled, gazing around at the endless litter and rundown buildings. It had to be the most depressing town in Station Square. "Over fifty thousand rings worth of value was stolen and this is where he lived. If this doesn't prove he works for Eggman I don't know what will."

Shadow didn't respond, just merely grunted before walking away.

Their destination was a large hotel building, with rusting fences and slabs of wood covering the windows. There wasn't much sign of life around these parts either. The two agents went inside, and naturally as fate would have it, Sonic lived on one of the higher floors, and the elevator was broken. The stares weren't much better but at least they wouldn't collapse just yet.

Having made their way up, Shadow was the first to approach the door. The only way he was going to get inside was by using the special knock Sonic reluctantly taught him. Two quick knocks, a pause, another two knocks, pause, and then one final knock.

They waited.

The door unlocked from inside, and swung open wide enough to reveal a young, yellow furred fox with two large tails wagging behind him. The smile on his face was wide enough to take over, and there was so much relief filled in his eyes.

Or there was… until he realised this was the wrong hedgehog at the door.

With a sudden panic he tried to slam the door close, but Shadow caught it in time and pushed himself in, Rouge following close by. "Tails I'm assuming?" he tried to ask, but instantly the young child screamed at the top of his lungs, running away from the invaders.

"Hey get back here!" Shadow chased after him. Tails couldn't get far, as there was only two other rooms in this apartment, if it could even be called that. The rooms were tiny, and Shadow felt as if it had only taken him two steps before he reached the bedroom.

He didn't have to look far for the kid, the trembling sobs were loudly coming from under the bed. "I'm not playing this ridiculous game. _Get out here now!_ " Unfortunately, his angry threatening voice had no positive impact. Tails screamed even louder now as he feared for his life.

Rouge forcefully pushed Shadow, catching him off guard, "What the…"

"Are you insane? He's not a criminal Shadow, he's a child! I will handle this, you get out" she ordered before completely pushing him out of the room. She probably would have slammed the door too, but there wasn't one there. He watched the white bat lie down next to the bed, poking her head slightly under the bad smelling covers, no doubt winning the foxes trust.

Shadow took that moment to look around.

The front and main room of the house was bad. There was a single bed pushed against the wall, blankets and pillows padded on to form some sort of couch. There were a lot of bricks lying around, propping up planks of wood as an ill attempt of tables and chairs. Any furniture they did have looked old, tacky. Probably taken from the dump. The walls were damp, covered in mould and the smell in this room was horrific; like sweat and urine mixed together. Shadow found himself wanting to hold his breath or pinch his nose.

The kitchen was part of this room, and Shadow went to inspect it. Little to his surprise when he opened the fridge there was no food, just another smell that made him want to gag. The cupboards were empty as well, only a couple cans of vegetable soup could be found. When he opened the bottom cupboard and looked on the shelf, he noticed a lot of crumbs and rat droppings at the back, and even on the floor now that he looked on it.

Closing his eyes, he shook his head a sighed. No, this didn't surprise him, but it wasn't easy to see.

Coming out of the kitchen, he went to the opposite side of the room, where a small desk and draws were. Possibly there was something Eggman related hiding away?

Looking through only led to disappointment however. There was nothing relating to the crimes or anything. What he did find instead however, were School books.

Raising his brow, filled with bewilderment, Shadow picked up the books. They stood out with everything else in the room as they were clean, new and looked after. Not only that but they looked expensive as well. Opening the first book up was English literature, and it must have been the fox who was using them because the hand writing inside was terrible! Much like the apology notes left at the robberies.

"Shadow?"

Hearing his name, he looked around. Rouge stood, with a red eyed fearful child in her arms as he hid his face in her shoulder, wiping the last of his tears. "You got him out?"

"Yes and I didn't need to force him. Poor thing just needed a warm soul to tell him what happened" she cooed over the boy, Tails looking slightly uncomfortable with the whole deal.

"Fine. Take him to the car and radio the General that we're on our way."

* * *

Back at G.U.N, Sonic was taken back to the interrogation room once again. It was just getting annoying now. It hadn't even been a day and they were dragging him to every room in the building. Although he was glad to out of that cell if anything. Apparently, it had only been an hour but it felt so much longer. Locked up like a lifeless object. Something for people to sneer and laugh at if they walked by. It wasn't the standard prison cell either. It was just a bare room with one bed and a toilet. No windows, not even on the door. Just the tiny, tiny room. One thing he had never been good with was tight spaces. He loved being able to run and be free, all up until…

This however, this was worse than being in hell for him. Every second that went by, the walls grew smaller and smaller, pushing in on themselves until they eventually collided with him trapped in the middle. It felt like there was no air, just a blinding heat ready to suffocate. His mind went crazy. Nothing to do, nowhere to go. He sat on that bed and pulled off the skin of his arm.

It was only an hour…

He couldn't do it. Not again. He couldn't spend years doing that… he just couldn't.

Sonic felt his limbs grow numb the more he thought about it. There were two guards standing by the door and the General was next to him. There were no handcuffs this time because they had decided that if he were to act out of line again then the Tasers they held in their hands would do just fine.

Possibly for the first time in two years, he started to regret running away.

The door opened and the first person to run in was the only person Sonic wanted to see.

"Tails!" he cried as the young fox leapt into his opened arms, embracing his brother as tight as he could. "Sonic I was so worried! You were gone for hours, I thought something horrible happened to you."

The blue hedgehog looked around, a fake smile on his face as he was unusually brave all of a sudden. "Well… it kinda did buddy. But don't worry, I'm okay. Just wasn't lucky this time" he said, rubbing the foxes back.

Shadow and Rouge entered the room, dismissing the guards while doing so. The General stayed in the room but stood at the now locked door himself.

It was all getting too much for the young fox to bare, as he broke down, refusing to let go of his best friend.

"Hey Tails, don't get upset. We knew this day would probably come… It's gonna be alright."

"No it's not! They'll throw you in prison and it's not your fault! I don't want you to leave me… please don't let them take you…"

There was a sharp pain stinging in Shadow's chest as he watched the two friends.

This was a far step from justice and he knew it. Sonic wasn't the one to blame for these crimes, but he was the one who had to pay the price. That's simply how it worked.

As Sonic tried to calmed Tails down, holding him close while the fox sat on his lap and buried his face into his chest, the General cleared his throat to call attention. "Alright we got your friend for you, now there's questions you need to answer."

"He's my brother" Sonic sneered, holding Tails tighter in case they attempted to take him away.

Shadow opened the folder that was placed on the desk, while Rouge sat down. "Alright, we kept our side of the deal so now you keep yours. Are you working for Eggman, yes or no?"

It was clear by the look on his face that this was a difficult question to answer. Sonic's eyes looked everywhere for help but there was no use in it. They _did_ bring Tails to him, now he had to do this, or who knows what they'll do to the kid. They might throw him back on the streets! Tails couldn't survive that again.

"… yes."

Shadow almost wanted to smile. "Okay. Next question, how did Eggman come into contact with you?"

It was as if someone had threatened to slap him. Sonic immediately cowered down, his grip on his brother getting stronger as he trembled. Shadow waited however, though he felt concern with the boy's mental wellbeing at this point. This was not something that was comfortable to see.

"C-can I please answer a different question?" His voice had gone so quiet, strained as if he had been shouting for three hours straight. It was clear to everyone that he couldn't answer that question, but the General didn't seem keen on letting him move on.

This was when rebellious Rouge stepped in. "Of course sweetie, that's not important just yet. The biggest question we need to ask is where is Eggman? How can we find him?"

There was a brief silence.

"Sonic if we don't catch him and prove his involvement in these crimes then you will be pinned down for everything. If you tell us where we can find him, we can help you."

Sonic looked down at the young boy in his arms. Tails blue eyes matched with his. The fox was begging him, his eyes pleaded, do whatever it took to save himself… so that they could stay together.

"Okay… he's at…"


	8. Chapter 8

Unfortunately, the interview had not ended the way he had expected, and there was only one way Shadow could deal with the disappointment; at the training room.

Shockingly no one volunteered to be his fighting buddy, so he was left punching a 50kg bag. It was the only one he hadn't broken yet.

"Shadow what are you doing?" the white bat asked condescendingly after finding him.

The back hedgehog didn't answer her question however. "I'm going to kill that brat! I swear!" One punch and the bag almost came off its hook.

Rouge rolled her eyes. She had to admit it wasn't exactly a proud moment when they realised the thief had played them both into saving the fox. However, Shadow could have responded a bit better when Sonic told them "Eggman could be found at chaos knows where" then to actually jump over the table and strangle the kid. After that incident, he got kicked out and the General took over the interview.

Turns out the kid wasn't trying to be funny. He really didn't know where Eggman was, no one did.

"Listen I know it's annoying but hope isn't lost."

After another punch, Shadow finally stopped and turned around, scowling at Rouge as if she had insulted him. "And why would that be?"

She smiled, "Well after you got kicked out apparently in order to protect his location, Eggman will arrange a pick up spot for his workers, have them blinded temporarily, and then they're only allowed to see once they're in his lair."

He stopped looking so angry. "I see… So we can use Sonic as a means to track him down" finally he was getting somewhere! He could use the kid to get right to Eggman himself!

"Ha, good luck with that! The thief is as stubborn as Vector thinking he'll get that promotion. We tried every deal in the book, he's refusing to help anymore" she said while crossing her arms. It was obvious they've been having a long fight on their hands, one they were not victorious in.

Strangely though, Shadow suddenly smiled. "Where is he now?"

"In a cell, which he'll be staying in for a while."

Again, for the tenth time that day, Shadow turned his heels and walked away, giving no explanation as to where he was going. Rouge threw her arms into the air. "I give up! I swear, I give up!"

* * *

He was back in the cell. After everything that had happened that day he ended up back in the cell regardless. But then what could he expect? He had no real answer as to where Eggman was, Tails was now safe (he hoped), so what else were they going to do with a low life like him? No doubt they'd forget about him soon, leave him to rot into insanity by these tight walls. If Sonic did know where Eggman was then he'd happily send them off and stay as far away as he could. But they wanted him to be the bait… no. He couldn't.

If something went wrong and he couldn't get out… Sonic closed his eyes, he didn't want to think about what would happen to him. He's already been through enough horrors with that man. He couldn't survive one more. The cell was a blessing compared to that punishment.

Despite his thoughts, the door to his closed in cell started to unlock. He opened his eyes. He wished he hadn't bothered.

"Oh joy, the Choker" Sonic dead panned, hiding his neck behind his arm.

Shadow huffed, shutting the door firmly behind him and waiting for the sound of the lock to go off. There was a moment of silence.

"How is your foot doing?" Shadow asked, looking down at the bandaged ankle. As if to prove a point Sonic stood up from his bed and stood at the far corner of his small cell, his back towards the agent. "None of your business, it's not like you shot me… oh wait."

This was now getting annoying. "Listen, do you want to make a deal to get out of this cell or not?"

"I don't want anything from you."

"Fine. I'll be contacting your parents then, perhaps they can bail you out."

"NO!" Sonic instantly spun around, his hands reaching out to stop an invisible force from attacking. Shadow had expected as much though. "What's wrong? Is that a problem?" he smiled unsettlingly. The panic on the blue hedgehog's face said it all.

"Please you can't do that! I can't go back home… neither can Tails. Wait… what's gonna happen to Tails, you can't send him home, his parents will kill him!"

Shadow held up his hands. "Calm down, we've already spoken to him. Much like yourself he's a runaway, however he told us the reason why."

Sonic breathed in relief.

"He's going in our foster care program. He'll be well looked after" he explained. Even though it calmed him down, the teenager was obviously still worried as he sat back down on his bed, his head dropping low to his lap.

There was a slight pause, then Shadow walked up to his side. He almost placed a hand on his back but retracted last moment.

"How did you know I ran away?" Sonic asked before Shadow spoke first.

"I checked your records. Your parents put out a missing notice two years ago."

The blue hedgehog laughed, "Yeah sure, as if they would actually look for me."

Shadow looked away. Now was not the time for the truth. So instead he changed the subject. "Whatever the case is, I need to find Eggman. Now I will make you a deal. If you help us, and I mean _real_ help us this time, I can get you out of this cell."

"Forget it" he replied blankly. The agent raised his brow. "So you would rather rot in a cell then help bring down a murderous criminal?"

"No, I'd rather rot in cell then go back to that nut job and get mutilated again! Forget it, I'm not interested" Sonic said, standing up again and walking away. "Besides, even if I did help, you're all planning on throwing me back in here anyway." There was no point in agreeing for a reduced sentence. He was going insane by the second in this box. There was nowhere to move, there was no one to talk to; he couldn't even look outside for the lack of windows, even on the door. It was a cage and pretty soon he'll build up so much energy that he'll go stir crazy.

"When I said get you out of this cell, I meant for good."

That caught his attention.

Sonic looked back around, nothing but caution and distrust showed through his face. Shadow stood up from the uncomfortable bed, but made no attempt to walk closer. Truthfully he didn't need to, the cell was small enough.

"I have been chasing Eggman for a long time, to the point I lost everything. At my lowest, someone helped me and changed everything around… and I want to repay that to them" Shadow waited, staring deep at the criminal in front of him. All he needed was something… something in the boys expression to change, so that he would know who he was.

"And you need to catch Eggman to do that?"

Clearly he failed.

Shadow sighed, but carried on regardless, "Yes. Now will you help me?"

He wasn't answered straight away. Sonic took as much time as he needed to think it over. With a huge breath, and more resistance then his brain was allowing him, Sonic finally found courage to even consider such a suicidal request.

"Okay… But! I have some conditions."

Shadow groaned, "Fine what are they?"

"One. You get me out of this cell, today! I won't do this for reduced sentence because I'm not going to make it through today, let alone years. I don't care what you have to do, I want out now!"

With the smallest of smiles forming on his lips, Shadow nodded his head. Funny as that is what he already planned. "Very well, it's a deal…"

"I'm not done" Sonic interrupted. Shadow narrowed his eyes at him.

"Two. I want to be able to see Tails as often as I want. I wanna know whose looking after him and if he is safe! He's a special kid, he needs me, and if anyone has hurt him consider yourself a dead man!" Sonic was holding back as he said this, Shadow could tell by the trembling struggle in his chest that he was trying to look strong.

"You care for him a lot, don't you?" Shadow asked, remembering how cold hearted all the past Eggman slaves were that he captured in the past. None of them had any regard for the safety of anyone else.

Yet, here was Sonic, shaking his head as if the very question was ridiculous, "Of course… he's my brother."

"Hmm alright. Anything else?"

There was only a brief silence. "Yes. You, or anyone else, do not contact either of our families. Not mine, not Tails. Got it?"

"Why…"

"Got it?!" Sonic held out his hand, nothing but determination in his eyes. Shadow couldn't help but feel impressed. He took his hand and shook. "Got it. Now with that sorted, wait here while I do some paper work."

Shadow turned around and walked towards the door.

"Wait, you'll get me out today right?" Sonic called out after, following the agent. However the door only opened so Shadow could get out, slamming shut and locking before the blue hedgehog could even think of escape. He banged his fists on the solid metal frame, "Shadow! You get me out today or the deal is off! You hear me?!"

He waited, but no reply.

"Hello… anyone?"

No one was there.

With his hands trembling, but balling up against the door frame, Sonic felt a familiar tornado build up in the pit of his stomach. With a sharp cry and not much thought, he kicked his foot into the 10inch metal frame. It was bad enough to leave a small noticeable dent. What was worse however was he forgot about the damage already done to his ankle, and dropped to the ground where he could hold his foot as the pain ran straight through him. Sonic had to bite his lip to stop himself from cursing, but he couldn't stop himself yelling through the throbbing sensation of a broken foot. Why did he do something so stupid?

Better yet, why did Shadow have to shoot him?

"I swear I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch."

* * *

 **Dun Dun Duuuuuun!**

 **How's this gonna turn out? Huh? Huh?**

 **Leave a review, let me know what you think of the story so far and I'll see you next time :P**


	9. Chapter 9

**Boom new chapter!**

 **Thank you for all the support so far and hope you enjoy.**

* * *

He was wrong. He was extremely wrong. The cell would have been better.

Everything was tense and awkward. There were GUN agents surrounding him, examining the perimeters, taking note of any possible escape rude and bolting it down. Then there was Shadow, knelling in front of where he sat on the comfortable sofa. His shoes hadn't been returned to him, clearly, they realised he was useless without them, not to mention the minor injury to his foot also. But now, to make it so he couldn't leave the house, Shadow was placing an alarm on his other ankle. Sonic was now officially under house arrest.

Was that so bad? No.

However, as if to define the point even more, all the agents finished their jobs and left, leaving behind only him and Shadow.

This was Shadow's house.

The black hedgehog got up off the floor, and stood still for a moment, eye contact never failing. It was like having his soul stared into, and Sonic couldn't do anything other then look away. The gaze was burning. Truthfully however, Shadow was unsure of what to say. The blue hedgehog, while sitting down, look ready to dart at a moment's notice. Shadow knew he had to keep things calm, he needed this brat on his side.

"Okay… So this is the deal. You will stay here with me at _all_ times. This is a house arrest, and you should be grateful that the General agreed to this. Rules are simple; You are to do as I tell you, no excuses. You stay in my general sight at, you ask for my permission to do anything around here and that includes making food, going to bed or watching tv. You are still a prisoner and nothing has changed for that regard…"

As Shadow went on however, he failed to see the drop in the others face. Sonic stared at the floor, breathing lighting through his lips, fearing that the beads of sweat he felt surfacing would grow visible. He had been tricked before with kind words. Friendly strangers just wanting to do their part for those who suffered long enough. It was how he ended up with Eggman to begin with. There was something too familiar about this; too familiar about Shadow. His appearance was recognizable but he just couldn't place it. He couldn't remember if he had seen him working for Eggman or if it was someone he crossed in the street. But none of that mattered. Not now. He was alone in a house with a man wanting to take him back to the mad scientist. A guy that had shot him in the foot without hesitation. How could he possibly feel safe? How could he believe anything? He couldn't. Deep in his gut, Sonic knew something would happen if he stayed, what? Unsure. But something, and he wasn't prepared to find out.

So, as Shadow was half way through delivering the rules, Sonic merely stood up and limped towards the kitchen.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" The agent snapped, following Sonic into the other room. Immediately he stopped, and then feared the worse when the blue teen quickened his speed and slammed the door when he was inside the room. "Sonic!" Shadow yelled, pulling at the door handle. He knew he didn't have a lock on that door, Sonic must have placed a chair to block it. Without thinking of another option, Shadow swung his leg and kicked the door off its hinges.

When he walked into the kitchen however, Sonic was nowhere to be seen.

"What?"

Where in one second everything was quiet, instinct suddenly took over. Shadow swung around and lashed out his hand just in time, before the knife came ramming into his arm. With Sonic stuck in his grip, the sudden fear and desperation played on the young hedgehog's face, not having expected to fail.

Shadow held onto the struggling teen, keeping his face, and everywhere else, away from the knife as Sonic tried again, this time no longer aiming for the arm. The agent was much stronger then him however, so when Sonic kicked out and screamed in panic frustration, it did nothing but aggravate the black hedgehog even more. With an overpowering shove, Shadow threw him against the wall, grabbing his wrist and slamming it against the hard surface in hopes he would drop the knife. But he didn't, and he didn't even register the pain.

"Let me go!" Sonic yelled repeatedly, pulling his arm free at last. This was when the knife fell, and he quickly snatched it up with his other hand before Shadow could. That was the mistake however as Shadow kicked the weapon out of his hand, causing him to recoil his hand with a sharp cry. _That one he felt?_

Shadow picked up the blade, and threw it out of the window before shutting and locking it. Sonic ran towards it, hoping he'd break the glass, but Shadow easily side stepped and grabbed him around the waist before he could and dragged him back.

"NO! NO! GET OFF ME! LET. ME. GO!" Sonic angrily yelled, punching at the hands that restrained him and digging his heels into the floor… it was almost exactly like the time he last saw his father.

All through the ordeal of being attacked, Shadow never said a word. He kept his grip as tight as he could, making sure the thief couldn't escape while he pulled him up the stairs. Sonic was doing everything a child would do. Grabbing the walls, kicking his heels against the carpet, trying to pull Shadow's arms away from his waist, all while screaming as much as his lungs would allow him too. Anyone would have thought it Shadow had tried to kill _him_!

He dragged Sonic to his new bedroom, now seeing it had taken blood sweat and tears to do so, whether this was going to be a sort-of time out he wasn't sure, Shadow had zero experience in childcare, all he wanted was to get the kid in a safe place, calm him down, talk it out like adults; and if that didn't work punch him in the head.

That was the plan until they made it into the room, and Shadow threw Sonic down onto the double bed. Then all hell broke out.

Once he saw he was free, Sonic burst into a new sort of panic. This was a small room, also with no windows and no means of escape. He didn't know why he was put here, but he had heard enough horror stories to set him on edge. He didn't want to be locked in this room, all he could think about were the cells Eggman had thrown people in, and the horrid things his robots did to them. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to go home! This ugly shade of red on the walls looked too much like bleeding. And now he could feel the torture begin.

Shadow was ready to give Sonic a piece of his mind. He was never one to complain but almost being stabbed had set him on edge. He opened his mouth to start, but then felt a pillow hit him square in the face. Quickly grabbing it, Shadow threw it to the floor, and managed to grab the next one before it also collided with his face. Sonic had ran out of pillows, and instead grabbed the sheets off the bed, holding it up as a shield as he backed up to the wall. "Don't you dare come near me!" he yelled.

Shadow tried to take a step closer, his temper getting harder to control. "What is _wrong_ with you? I did you a favour and this… GAH!"

Using that moment, when Shadow was too close, Sonic threw the blanket over the agent's head, momentarily blinding him, then ran to the door. Shadow however, being trained in the art of escape, had no trouble untangling himself from the massive sheet. When he saw the blue hedgehog's hand reach for the door, he used his own abnormal speed to get there first.

With only one hand Shadow kept the door firmly shut, while Sonic used both hands on the handle and desperately tried to pull it open.

"Stop it! Just let me go!" He screamed out again, only this time it turned into a plea. He dropped down to his knees, his hold weakening as his hands grew limp. At this point, Shadow had his own hand raised high, ready to strike down if the boy made any new attempts to attack him. Yet, despite how angry he felt, he couldn't help but notice how Sonic suddenly trembled.

The fight in Sonic had gone, this much Shadow could tell, and now the boy just looked tired. Keeping one hand firm on the door still, Shadow lowered himself down to his knees. But as soon as he tried to make eye contact, Sonic hid his face away in the wall, ashamed and frightened. Shadow had no idea why.

He reached out to grab the loose part of Sonic's jacket, but the younger hedgehog instinctively lashed out, while keeping his face away.

"Sonic?"

No reply.

Shadow didn't give in to pity though. "Now that you've stopped trying to kill me, I suggest you start talking."

"I wasn't trying to kill you! just... just returning the favor when shot me."

"Hey! I did what you asked me too. I got you out of that prison cell, and then you _literally_ stab me in the back!"

"I was aiming for your arm!"

"Do you have any idea how much it took for me to convince the General to allow you to stay here? You have any idea how much trouble you will cause with your stupid actions? The General was against this idea from the start, I've had to put my job on the line just so you can have a little more walking space! Don't you get that? Or maybe you've yet to discover that there are other people on this planet besides you!"

All went quiet, not the response Shadow had wanted.

"Hey! Look at me!" Shadow demanded. It didn't happen.

"Look at me when I'm talking!" He snapped, voice growling with intimidation. Still, Sonic wouldn't show his face. Angrily, Shadow threw his hand out and grabbed it around Sonic's arm. The teenager threw his other fist at the agent but Shadow grabbed it before impact. With both arms restrained, Sonic couldn't hide his face anymore, not when Shadow stood up and pulled him away from the wall.

"NO! GET OFF ME YOU MONSTER!" he screamed, kicking his foot against Shadow's ankle. To this the black hedgehog stumbled backwards, but his grip never faltered.

"What are you talking about!?"

"You MURDERER… let me go… _please!_ "

"Murderer? What are you talking about?"

Sonic however had given up. He dropped back to his knees and collapsed to the floor, but with his wrists still locked in Shadow's hold he could only go so far. The black hedgehog's widened in confusion. Sonic lowered his head, and his shoulders shuddered. He couldn't keep on fighting anymore. Eggman had entered his mind for too long, and now his fear had been realised. He forgot where he was and who he was with. There was so much pain shooting through his arm, his legs unable to carry his own weight with the throbbing heat waves etching at his ankle with every step. He was trapped in a nightmare. He felt this pain on most days, his lack of sleep and food, rarely being able to cope with the stressful jobs he was given, always having to fight his way out. He spent every night unable to remember where he was, because all he could see was the red room whenever he tried to sleep. All he wanted was somewhere to rest, to be with someone he could trust. Maybe then he could finally sleep. He didn't want this… not this… and suddenly it was too much now. He felt scared, alone, in pain, and didn't know what to do.

So, he started to cry. It wasn't grown up, but it's how he spent most of his nightmares, why would this be different?

Shadow however, thought it was just an act.

"Oh, very original, start crying like a baby, because that will solve everything" he mocked, talking down to the teen as he sobbed.

"Shut up!" was all Sonic could manage at first, hearing every word spoken to him, but not in Shadow's voice, he heard in the voice he resented the most. He finally looked up, but only saw the wide grin of a disturbed man, and the glint of blue from the glasses of his eyes. "I can't… I can't do this anymore… please... I just... w-want to die..."

Shadow was silent, coming to terms with his mistake. He slowly let go of Sonic's hands, and when Sonic didn't run away this time, he saw that this was genuine. This kid was broken. In the moment Shadow thought back to the house, the one where he found the young fox kid living in. That was Sonic's home. Dirty, unsafe and poor. There had been no food, the bed was damp from urine, which no doubt he and the kid shared, the walls were rotted and the only luxury items were the School books.

Then, just to add insult to injury, he had to work for Eggman, the most ruthless mob leader of the underground; his only means of survival rested upon that madman. If he had endured hell then that should have been it right? Shadow couldn't understand, this should be a dream come true for the kid, he was going to have his freedom back. So why he was so afraid, he couldn't explain.

Shadow sat down on the floor, for a moment in silence. With Sonic in front of him, he debated how to handle this situation. Rouge would have known what to do, he himself however, was not really one for comfort. Very briefly he allowed his hand to rest on Sonic's shoulder, but quickly removed it as soon as he did.

"… please don't make me go through with this…"

Momentarily his mind froze, but then it was as if a light struck a darkened room. Of course! It made sense now.

"You don't have a choice I'm afraid" Shadow replied. "We need you.."

"No please! I'm begging you… I can't do this!"

"Eggman needs to be stopped no matter what the cost. He had destroyed so many lives that we cannot afford to waste any more time. You're our only hope with this mission. We need you to find him, if not, then think of all the other young children he might capture and force into slavery. Think about your fox friend, it could have been him. In the future, it may even be someone younger and weaker. People have died because of Eggman… I was almost one of them." Shadow stopped for a moment and looked away.

He could only hope those words had gotten through to him, but Sonic looked no different then before. He rocked himself back and forth where he sat and stared intently at the wall. There was still so much more he needed to discus, but the day had been long enough day, and honestly he was tired. So, Shadow stood up from the floor and walked to the door, leaving Sonic where he sat.

"Remember this; I will be there with you on this mission. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, and that's a promise" Shadow said, and then, after leaving the room for a moment, he returned with a couple of tissues in his hand. He walked back over to the younger hedgehog and held them out, waiting for the blue one to make up his mind of what he wanted to do.

When Sonic saw him leave, he felt the imagine of Eggman slip away, and instead, now saw Shadow again, the black and red hedgehog he had fort with. Whether it was the words he had said, being so different from anything Eggman would ever say, or the fact that not once did this person hurt him, he didn't know. But now it felt like his mind was clearing for a moment. He wasn't in a room being forced to prove his worth, he wasn't hurting anyone anymore. And then, for just one second, he could have sworn Shadow sounded just like his dad.

There were too many emotions to deal with, none of which he wanted to face, so Sonic finally mustered the strength he needed to wipe away at his red puffy eyes and finally accept the tissues that Shadow held out for him. He couldn't bring himself to say anything though, he was far beyond formal niceties with this guy, and all he wanted was to go to sleep.

Fortunately for him, Shadow picked up on the vibe. He nodded his head before turning back around and closing the door behind as he left the room once again. This time however, he locked the door, just to be safe.

There were so many questions going through his mind, mostly whether he and Sonic were even on the same page. The whole event didn't feel right, not especially after being called a murderer. What could Sonic have possibly meant by that?

Though, it didn't matter. That was a subject for tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, back with a new chapter. Yes it's been a while but to be honest it was because I wasn't sure if this story was doing well. It hasn't gotten many reviews for the past few chapters so, I dunno. I'm not sure if it's worth carrying on or not. I know it shouldn't be all about the reviews, but let's face it, it's what most people look forward to seeing when they upload a chapter. Anyway, I hope you guys like the chapter, if the story picks up and people want me to I'll carry on but if not then I'll probably leave it for a bit.**

 **Thank you so far anyway and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Shadow hadn't slept all night. There was too much work to do. About an hour after Sonic had settled down and finally went to bed, he had stayed up at his computer, only for his hands to hover over the keys. His mind went blank. No matter what Shadow tired, he couldn't focus on his reports, because he kept thinking about the incident that had occurred. The kid had tried to stab him, yes, it's justifiable to get angry; however, he kept replying everything that had happened afterwards in his head again and again. He truly felt he handled the situation poorly.

He should have been more patient. Sonic had lived on the streets for who knows how long before working for Eggman, enduring who knows what kind of hell, only to have a stranger bring him into his home, and then to pushed him around because he got scared? Of course Sonic would be scared! All he's known since running away was fear and doing whatever it took to survive! Hell even he himself had similar moment's when he was on the street. Afraid of who saw him, those who were stronger and not afraid to show it. Even fearing he would never see food again. But most of all, he was afraid of those offering to help, because they were the ones that couldn't be trusted. At first, Sonic was no exception... Shaking his head, Shadow sighed, not wanting to think of this anymore. Sonic needed to trust him, not only for the operation to capture Eggman, but also so he can repay him for the dept he owed… but how could he do that while the kid was a criminal? What if he refused to give up the life of crime once Eggman was caught? He couldn't exactly let him go.

There was just so much to think about that instead of going to his own bed, Shadow sat on the sofa in his living room. His dull, boring living room that looked like a palace compared to what Sonic had, and aimlessly stared at the tv all night. It was the only way to distract him from worrying thoughts. Because if Sonic tried to attack him again, while he could handle himself, he knew the kid would be thrown back in the cells. And honestly… Sonic wouldn't survive a week. He was too far gone.

Despite not sleeping, the moment the clock hit seven, Shadow switched off the tv, wiped his eyes as he yawned, and got up to make himself coffee.

There was nowhere he needed to go today. As it was Sonic's first day in the house he was assigned to stay with him at all time to keep an eye on him. He was also to ask questions, get as much information as possible. Then later, Rouge would be coming over, and as it his operation, he will plan a route of action for Eggman before pitching the idea to the General, getting the go ahead and finally stopping the most dangerous man alive.

That, however, all depended on Sonic doing what he was told.

Shadow didn't feel great about this.

It was now seven fifteen, Shadow had let the kid rest long enough. He walked upstairs and knocked on the door of the spare room. After a silent pause, the was no answer. Shadow wasn't going to wait, he quietly opened the door. The room was pitch black. So, after not seeing any movement, he opened the door wider, letting light in on the room.

Still there was no activity, and an odd shape was underneath the duvet. Shadow had a sinking feeling in his stomach about this.

Once he pulled the covers back, revealing a beaten-up pillow and an ankle tracker below it, Shadow dipped his head low and growled.

How the hell did that brat escape? ... wait...

The door wasn't locked when he opened it.

And that was the moment Shadow realised he was an idiot! A complete and total moron! He put a thief in a room with a lock being his only way to break out.

He walked over to inspect, and just as he thought, strands of blue quills littered the floor, with a couple still stuck in the lock.

At this point, Shadow slammed his head against the wall.

How could he have been so careless? He knew better than this!

At this point he was on the verge of another mental breakdown. With little time to waste, Shadow picked up the ankle tracker, heading downstairs and was about to leave, but before doing so, there was a knock on the front door.

When he opened it, Rouge stood there, fire in her eyes and a scowl on her lips. She was not happy, far from happy! And with good reason.

In her hands, she held the arms of a struggling teenage hedgehog, whom she had handcuffed, gagged and had probably kicked a few times due to the hell he was giving her for bringing him back.

"I found this little brat limping on the street!" she said angrily, which wasn't like her at all. "I don't know what he was looking for, but he bit me, ripped out my hair and broke three of my nails. I just had them done Shadow!"

She threw Sonic into the house and at Shadow, who after catching him, dragged him into the living room. Rouge closed the door and followed her partner, arms crossed as she glared at the younger boy being pushed down to the couch.

Shadow didn't make any effort to un-cuff him or remove the gag at this point. Instead he got Rouge to keep on guard while he got his tool box and the tracker.

"How did he escape Shadow? You were supposed to be watching him!"

Shadow just huffed, not wanting to talk while kneeling down to put the tracker back on. How Sonic got it off was a mystery though, there wasn't any damage done to it or the thief's foot. So his only option was to make it tighter, and put it on the injured ankle instead to stop him from trying again.

Despite not being able to vocalise his opinion, Sonic made well sure that he wasn't okay with that plan, as he kicked out, almost catching Shadow in the face.

"Hey!" Shadow snapped, grabbing Sonic's foot before the impact was made. The blue hedgehog kicked out more, struggling in his spot and trying to pull himself free. Rouge quickly stepped in to help by pushing him down on the sofa and grabbing his legs so he couldn't move them. Naturally he yelled out, but was muffled out with the tape Rouge put over his mouth, which really, she shouldn't have.

Taking the chance, Shadow grabbed a hold of Sonic's shoes, which were a pair of his own that must have been in the spare room, because Sonic's original shoes were still at the lab. Regardless, he pulled them off, causing the teen to be unable to run, then placed the tracker strap around the injured ankle, before tightening it further with his tools.

Naturally Sonic tried to once again fight his way out, but he was outnumbered and low on strength. His attempts at freedom failed, and now he was back with the creep known as Shadow and big boobs the slut cop!

After the tracker was back on, they finally let him go. Rouge undid the cuffs and ripped the tape off his mouth, being as ungentle as possible. "OW!" Sonic yelled, covering his now red mussel.

The white bat showed no sympathy, merely placing her hands on her hips and turning her nose up at him with a huff.

Shadow stood up, knowing that this wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.

Right now, Sonic sat on the couch with his knees pulled up to his chin. He pulled a basic childish pout and acted completely miserable as if he was being told off. Rouge would have been laughing if she hadn't been already annoyed.

"Maybe I wasn't clear enough on the rules last night, but I assumed it was a given that you don't try and escape!"

Sonic said nothing.

"What did you think would happen? That we'd forget all about you and you could live the rest of your life in crime? Or maybe you thought I wouldn't care after you tried to stab me!"

"Wait, he tried to what now?" Rouge gasped.

Shadow shook his head, "Not important. What is important is that I need to be able to trust you! And you need to trust me. Regardless of how you feel, I will stop at nothing until I see Eggman get the death sentence, and if it means putting a criminal like you in my home- No, if it mean's breaking every bone in your body to get this job done, then believe me, I will do it."

His words couldn't have been more terrifying then the look in his eyes, but Sonic didn't react to it. Instead, he snarled, "Oh is that suppose to scare me? Do it! Go ahead. Do whatever the hell you want! I'd rather be ripped in half then help you!" He shouted while standing up, trying to mask the pain he felt in his leg from the tracker. He pushed Shadow out of his way, trying to storm past, but the black hedgehog soon shifted around and grabbed him by his quills, anger getting the better of him when he failed to realise how much he was hurting the thief, who immediately gasped and tried to pry his hands off.

"I don't care what you'd prefer! You were scared enough last night, I have no doubt it would take much to see you break down again."

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

Rouge reacted quickly, pushing herself between the two hedgehogs. She slammed her fingers into a nerve in Shadow's arm which forced him to let go of the quills. Then, whether she would admit it or not, a maternal instinct must have taken over her because she now found herself tending to Sonic, checking the back of his head for any serious damage or loose pieces. With everything that happened, it wasn't the pain that bothered him, but Sonic was now growing afraid of the man he was stuck with, who scowled with furious red eyes. He couldn't but feel his hand hold on to Rouge's shoulder, hoping she would protect him from this maniac.

Shadow had nothing more to say though. Before Rouge could open her mouth to have a go at him, he walked out of his own house, slamming the door behind him and leaving her to deal with his new prisoner. Rouge was left stunned, staring after the door once he had left. Sonic pulled away now Shadow had left, and he simply sat back down on the sofa.

Even though he was a criminal and he had attacked her this morning, Rouge had to admit, there was just something about how sad he looked that ate away at her heart.

Maybe this is what pity felt like?


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow my days you guys. First and foremost, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!**

 **I was not expecting so many reviews, I was pleasantly surprised by how much people said they lived this story, like seriously, it just makes me feel so happy knowing you guys like it and want me to carry on. So, as I hate to disappoint, here is a new chapter from a story I shall be continuing ^^**

 **Thank you guys for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

For an hour Shadow had walked through the streets of Station Square. He was tired, annoyed, and increasingly hungry; and it wasn't even 10 o'clock yet. There was too much to worry about before he could deal with that problem though. So many feelings clashed in his chest that his mind wouldn't make sense of it. The lack of sleep was obviously not helping. Had he not been in public he would have flopped on the floor and nodded off.

The problem he was struggling with however, was simple. Shadow made a mistake and he didn't know what to do.

Sonic wasn't going to do as he was told. He's going to fight to the bitter end until he's a free man, and no doubt go back to his criminal life, and it will all be Shadow's fault. The kid was unpredictable with his behaviour. Why did Shadow over look this? The blue teenager attacked almost everyone who has gone near him. The police, the doctors, Rouge, himself… what needed to happen for someone to have such a fear of people that you refuse to trust anyone? Always assuming everyone is going to hurt you, tear you apart in some way or other. Shadow wasn't stupid, he knew anyone working for Eggman would be messed up, just like the other suspects he had tried to capture but failed to do so. He didn't understand, what could make a person so afraid of every one around them that they would rather kill themselves before being brought in to speak against Eggman. What did Eggman do to them?

He stopped walking.

 _What did Eggman do to him?..._

 _"Maria…"_

 _"Shadow help me! Please…" all he could see was her face, tears spilling from her watery eyes. She was so innocent… She was innocent…_

A chill ran through his spine, and Shadow shook his head vigorously. He had to get that image out, he couldn't think of it.

Eggman was the devil in his eyes, there's no telling how far that man will go to break someone. And Sonic must have only been thirteen/fourteen when it happened. Really, how could he have expected the kid to react any other way? As far as Shadow could tell, the young fox was the only person Sonic had in his life that he could trust. A child that needed him more then anyone else.

He sighed, raising his head up to the heavens after feeling the droplets of rain hit his mussel. Much as he expected, the clouds were grey and thunder was echoing from the distance.

This time two years ago, he didn't have a house to go back to to escape the rain. He didn't have food to satisfy his hunger, the showers from the sky was the only drinkable water he could get in a big city. Every day was a game; would he survive today, or would this be the end? With no dignity or pride left in him, he allowed people to make comments. He let the kids get away with throwing things at him, because what was the point? What did he have to live for?

Who would care about him?

South Hill was his home for years, but then it seemed the moment things went wrong, everyone forgot about him… all because of Eggman.

It was simple, he had given up. Now it was a matter of waiting for someone to find his lifeless body, cold and unrecognisable. He had no desire to help himself, nor did he have any desire to let someone help him.

But then that kid came along… the night he slept in front of the School.

The young blue hedgehog with too much innocence in his eyes, who waited for everyone to leave before he approached a worthless failure of a man. Shadow didn't want his help, he didn't want his charity, yet… Sonic didn't give up on him. He showed him… respect… something Shadow hadn't felt in such a long time.

The food was delicious, possibly the best he'd ever eaten. The water refreshed him so much, and when the rain poured, he didn't have to find newspapers with sauce or dirt from the trash to keep himself warm, he had a padded coat that only just fit him thanks to the weight he lost.

That night was the first time Shadow cried since it happened. He had grown so numb, he forgot how to feel. Then, it was like, that one act of kindness reminded him of his purpose, the reason he became an agent, why he wanted to protect people. He wanted to save them from villains like Eggman, so that kind hearted kids like Sonic never got hurt by him. He'd forgotten who he was, he became so self-obsessed with glory that everything was taken from him. Now? He simply wanted his freedom back, and to pay back what he owed.

He went back to the School the next morning, he wanted to give the kid his coat back, thank him for what he had done, and then get back the job he had walked away from. Only, the next day, Sonic wasn't there.

Shadow had waited the entire day, just in case he came late. He never did.

He came back the next day, again and again, but every time Sonic wasn't there. Shadow had asked people, but no one would talk to him. Eventually a week passed, and Shadow waited too long. He needed to build up his life, he couldn't keep waiting.

Since getting his job back, settling into a new home and receiving assignments across the world, he never had a chance to keep his promise. He never got to find the kid that saved his life and give him his coat back.

He never got to thank him… until now. Yet, all he has done is terrorise the blue hedgehog to the point Sonic wanted to stab him to get away. There was no question about his mental state being unstable, but at this point, Shadow wouldn't know how Sonic would take the news. Whatever happened to him two years ago, if Shadow had been connected somehow… would Sonic blame him?

It was far too complicated to deal with, and he was getting a headache. So, reluctantly, he turned around and headed back home.

* * *

With a bag of food now in hand, Shadow opened the door to his house. The first sight he was greeted with was Rouge, hand on hips, anger in voice and a glare in her eyes. "Where the hell have you been?" she spoke harshly, yet she kept her voice quiet.

Shadow didn't answer for a moment, too startled by the fact she was there. "Why are you still here? You were supposed to be at the office."

"Oh, you remembered that? Because when you stormed out, you forgot one very important detail. The criminal living in your house is supposed to be supervised at all time!"

His eyes went wide, "Oh…"

"Damn right "oh". Thanks to you I had to call in sick today, because had I told them you stormed out and left the prisoner by himself, you would have been suspended and the kid thrown in a cell. Is that what you want?" she snapped.

Shadow shook his head, sighing at the headache that was coming back. "No. I didn't think…"

"Of course not, you haven't had a shred of common sense since this whole thing started. Seriously Shadow, I'm getting worried, what is going on with you?" Rouge asked, her anger subduing as genuine concern took over. Even though they were blunt with each other and never had a kind thing to say, Shadow was her dearest friend, she didn't want to see him suffer the way he did before, but now things were getting worryingly similar, and she was fearing the worst for him.

He only disagreed however, "It's nothing like that, I'm fine. I just need to catch Eggman. Now where's the kid?" he asked, pushing past her.

Rouge watched him walk away, sighing to herself. The guy was hopeless.

"He's still in the living room" she answered, following behind. Just as she answered, Shadow opened the door to the main room of the house, and sure enough, Sonic was there, lying on the couch, fast asleep with a blanket draped over him. For a moment, Shadow just stared at him, debating whether to wake him up or not. That's when Rouge stood by his side and rested her elbow on his shoulder casually.

"Yeah the poor thing's been out for the past hour. Turns out he hasn't slept in almost three days, so I'd leave him alone for a bit, let him catch up on some sleep so he doesn't flip out and go crazy" she suggested firmly, more as in a 'don't-wake-him-up-or-I'll-kill-you' sort of way. But since when did Shadow ever listen to her?

The black hedgehog shrugged her off, walked over to the sofa and kneeled down. The bag he had in his hand, he placed onto the floor next to him.

Sonic was curled up into a ball, the blanket tucked around him up to his cheeks, clearly the work of Rouge. There were very light snores coming from the blue lump, and it was at this point the black bags under his eyes were visible.

He really should have left him alone, because the moment Shadow shook his shoulder and called out his name, Sonic screamed out in terror then automatically punched out his fist. Shadow flew backwards, the fist hitting him square in the jaw, which was probably going to bruise now.

"You son of a…" Shadow started to curse, stumbling to his feet and clutching his jaw.

Sonic instantly flushed red and nervously sat up, hiding behind the blanket, "I-I'm sorry, it's a reflex" he stuttered.

Rouge made herself useless, for she was laughing too much.


	12. Chapter 12

**Well guys if you thought all I could write was doom and gloom then you are sadly mistaken.**

 **This is a loooooong light hearted chapter that will make you think I actually have soul before I destroy eveything you love with a character. Muahaha!**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter, it came at the price of my fingers (ouch) so please leave a review, tell me your thoughts and I shall update soon.**

 **Enjoy! Zoomp!**

* * *

It may have taken a while, but Shadow soon found out the secret to winning over the younger blue hedgehog: Food.

He could barely take his eyes off the blurred image of Sonic stuffing his face with his third chilidog. Shadow hadn't even started on his own and Rouge had left the room in disgust at the mess that was being made. Apparently not having a real home made one forget about table manners.

"You've never tried a chilidog before?" Shadow asked, raising his brow. The moment he found out this piece of information he couldn't get his head round it. He thought it was normal for every child to at least try a chilidog on a day out, whether to the beach or to an event, it was just thing people did. Shadow himself was found of them and rarely got to treat himself to one. Now he wasn't sure he wanted it, or if he would get the chance to eat before it was snatched from his plate.

Sonic seemed to be in complete bliss. Not only was he starving at this point, so much so, his stomach had made him nearly throw up after the first taste, but once he got past the unpleasant feeling, he found the most amazing thing happened to him. He tasted something that didn't taste of crap!

"Never, mum never… let us because they were… too "common"" he answered, mouth still fall and chewing down the rest. He was ready to move onto the forth one, but sadly Shadow had only brought four in total and the last one was still on his plate, untouched. Sonic gave it the saddest eyes, longing and desperate.

"I see." With a low sigh, Shadow pushed his plate forward, allowing the teen to snatch it up and shove it in his mouth. Within seconds it was gone, and he was happily licking his fingers clean. This was probably the most comfortable Shadow had seen his prisoner be. He had hoped he could keep things this way.

"Well, I can bring home some more if you like, and show you how to make them" he said, standing from the table and picking up the plates. For a moment Sonic had paused, as if not only taking in the words, but the gesture behind them. Needless to say, he looked like a mouth in front of a cat who promised not to eat him. He was trying to work out why Shadow was being so nice, but appreciated it at the same time. Timidly he nodded his head, whispering a small thank you.

Shadow didn't respond, merely a humph, as per usual, obviously not realising how difficult it had _actually_ been for the thief to show gratitude.

After cleaning up, Shadow returned, Rouge close behind him. The dining area was in the front room with the living space. For a guy who was possibly evil and had probably killed a bunch of people in the past, he sure had a lot of nice stuff, Sonic noticed. The main room of the house was large, taking up the most of the first floor. He hadn't fully seen the whole house yet, but so far what he did see was impressive. Everything was spotlessly clean, well except for the table, but that was his fault. Against the far wall was a large fire place, with an almost giant TV above. There was also a lot of fancy ornaments, lots of kick knacks Sonic didn't think Shadow would own. In a strange way, it reminded him of his mother's favourite room. He didn't know if he felt comforted or unnerved by it.

Shadow snapped his fingers, getting the kids attention, before motioning for him to join them on the sofas. Sonic quickly did as he was told, but sat on the same couch as Rouge, keeping away from Shadow.

Turns out the agent was not wasting any more time. He opened a map of the state and placed it onto the coffee table in front of his, pen already in hand. "In order to catch Eggman we will need to direct to his base, it's the only place he will be hiding now. We've checked almost everywhere in this vicinity" he pointed to their own city, most of which was covered in black X marks where he had crossed off failed locations. The map itself was full of them. "No matter what we do, we can't pick up a trace. Sonic, where is his base located?"

The question almost threw him it was so sudden. Sonic barely had the time to register that they were now planning this "mission" to capture the mad man, now he was hit with this. He found himself stuttering instead of answering.

"U-u-um…"

"Well, where is it? You've been before haven't you?" Shadow grew impatient.

"I-I-I ugh… yes kinda" he couldn't look into the crimson coloured eyes, they practically burned through his skull.

"Then where is it?" he snapped.

"I don't know."

Silence. A pin could have dropped and sound the same as glass that shattered. Shadow became stiff, causing only worry to fest inside the younger man. "You don't know…" he repeated, each word getting louder than the last.

Sonic felt himself start to sweat under the cold glare, shutting his eyes for a moment to block the fears out. "I-It's just… nobody knows where it is. You can only see Eggman when he calls you. Everyone has their own place to wait in the city where his robots pick you up."

Shadow softened his gaze, only a small amount though, placing his chin in his hand. "I see. What happens then?"

Sonic gulped, and much to Shadow's surprise, only one of his hands trembled in his lap. Rouge had noticed as well, raising her brow to the black hedgehog questioningly, as if he could explain. "Well… They blind fold you… to stop you from seeing where they're taking you. It's only when you're in the base, standing in front of Eggman when they take it off."

Rouge smiled widely, impressed with the information, "Ah the good old doctor learned from his past mistakes I see" she laughed, though Sonic didn't understand what she was talking about, Shadow did, and he wasn't in the mood for her careless jokes.

"Yes well his learning has led to the death of hundreds of people. I'm not letting him get away this time. Sonic" he addressed the other hedgehog. "We will need you to get into the base. You will arrange a meeting with Eggman and we can use you to locate the…"

"NO!" Immediately Sonic stood up, all meekness and fear turned back into anger. Shadow was quick to follow him.

"I agreed to help you find him, you never asked me to be part of the mission! I've done my part, so leave me out of this!"

"Are you forgetting that you are still imprisoned for the crimes you committed, stealing and assault! If you don't help us capture Eggman then you will lose any chance of walking free!"

"Fine, throw me in a cell! I'd take that any day over going back to Eggman!"

Shadow snarled, his fists clutched tightly as he stepped closer. "As I recall, you wanted death over a life in a prison cell. In fact, I'm sure that can still be arranged."

"Go ahead, save Eggman a job!"

"Right that's enough" Rouge quickly interjected, again pushing herself between the two boys who were close to arguing with their fists. She pushed them both back, trying to keep as much distance between the two. "We can't plan anything until you two sort things out" she turned to Shadow, "Threats aren't going to help you, I thought you had learned this by now! Keep your temper under control or you'll end up with a repeat of last time!"

Shadow crossed his arms and looked away with a grunt. Annoyingly she was right.

She then turned to Sonic, who had already looked defeated. "And you! If you had any shred of decency in you you'd realise that everything Shadow has done has been to help you. Eggman is destroying lives, I'd have thought you of all people would understand how painful it is and would be grateful for the chance to do something about it!" Her words hit him like a knife, and he flinched as the severity of them before looking away. It's like he didn't care… he just…

"As for the plan" she said to the both of them, "it can wait! I am going to go home, pour myself a nice bath and enjoy the rest of my day off. I do _not_ want a call on my communicator saying one of you is dead or that Sonic escaped! You are both going to spend the day, getting along, having a tea party or whatever the hell it takes to stop you two from trying to grab each other's throats! Got it!?"

Neither boys said anything, and no matter how much they attempted to hide it, they both felt diminished by her dominating words. Shadow had worked with her for many years, he knew that when Rouge was mad, there is no threat she wouldn't carry out, so long as her point had been made. Even though he knew from a statistic point of view, he was far more powerful, the white bat had a way of emasculating him. Sonic didn't know her that well however, so he was feeling the general overwhelming nervousness of having someone shout at you.

But either way, reluctantly, the two hedgehogs nodded and agreed to Rouges demands.

"Very well. But tomorrow we _will_ make the plan, and you _will_ be part of it!" Shadow growled, getting in the last word. Sonic didn't take kindly, narrowing his eyes in return.

Before he could protest however, Rouge smiled widely and clapped her gloved hands together. "Wonderful! Now boys, no one better be dead tomorrow, alright?" She stepped away to take her leave, but not without looking back over her shoulder and addressing the black furred rodent, "Oh and by the way sweetheart, see to it sticky fingers over there gets a bath will you."

Shadow pulled a sour look as she left the house. He was supposed to bath him now?

Shaking his head, he turned around, ready to address the younger boy, but Sonic was the first one to speak, and he was beyond frantic.

"I'm not having a bath!" he shouted, backing up from the agent. Shadow sighed over the matter, not understanding where the reaction came from.

"Do you have to cause a big problem out of everything?" he asked tiredly. Sonic kept shaking his head however, "No! I'm just not having one, so deal with it!"

Truthfully, Shadow would have loved nothing more than to drop the matter and avoid causing anymore conflict, however, there was a reason Rouge said what she did. Unfortunately, the prisoner stank!

It wasn't something he noticed right away, but after finally getting him alone in the interrogation room, Shadow had started to smell something unpleasant. Sonic was covered in dirt. His jacket was filthy, his quills thin and looked almost wet, when in fact it was just greasy. The worst part was the serious body odour. The guy had committed his crimes by running at the speed of sound, there was some serious issues with hygiene here. Taking his shoes off was one thing, but this kid smelt like deodorant hadn't been invented. If he was going to steal he could have at least taken some of that. Shadow had been in some disgusting places in the past, smells were never something that he dwelled on or get repulsed by, but this case was different. This stink bag was staying in his house and touching his stuff.

"You don't have a choice. You smell like something that crawled into the garbage and rotted to death."

Sonic crossed his arms, turning away in disobedience.

"Sonic…" Shadow said warningly. Still no reaction.

"It's either the easy way or the hard way."

He laughed. Then Shadow unfolded his arms, "Very well."

A gasp of surprise and horror escaped from Sonic's lips as he felt two arms twisted around his stomach. Quickly, he felt his feet leave the ground, as the hedgehog who was the same height as he tried to lift him into the air. Sonic went straight into survival mode, and began kicking his legs and pounding at the hands that secured him. "No stop it! STOP IT!" he yelled, feet now back on the ground, but unfortunately being dragged instead.

"You asked for this" Shadow grunted, pulling the kid out of the room. For someone incredibly skinny he surprisingly difficult to move.

"No I didn't! I never asked for any of this! You put me in the bath and I'll slice your freaking throat!" Nothing was working, Shadow had too strong of a hold, and now the stairs were coming into view. He couldn't go in water… he couldn't. It was too dangerous.

As soon as they were near the banister, Sonic lashed out and grabbed the door frame just before they made it.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Shadow cried out, now realising how childish the situation was. He tried pulling but Sonic stood his ground, using his freakishly strong grip to keep him in place. In end, Shadow had enough.

He let go and threw his hands in the air, then he walked away.

Sonic blinked a couple of times, watching the agent leave.

… Did he win?

A small smile came to his mussel. He won… he actually won! He didn't have to go in water! This was awesome! He was nearly cheering, throwing his hands around in small victory dance as he prepared to rub this in Shadow's face!

"In your face sucker! You can't mess with the blue blur" he cheered to himself, fist pumping the air.

He got too cocky… and didn't see the handcuff that snapped around his wrist.

"What the… DAMN IT NOOO."

Yep, too late. Shadow had his hand cuffed, secured, and was no standing in front again, dragging him away from the door. Sonic didn't have a chance, he couldn't slip his hand away, nor could he pull the chain out of the agent's hand. He was stuck and out of ideas. In a desperate attempt, he lurched forward and bit down on Shadow's arm.

"Ow! You little pest" he grumbled, holding back to urge to slap him.

Sonic stared with complete bewilderment. He had extremely sharp teeth, yet all Shadow did was flinch. That's it, he was doomed.

But then, much to his surprise, they weren't going up the stairs. They were heading outside?

"W-what are you doing?" Sonic asked, finally still for a moment as Shadow opened the back door to his garden. Not that there was anything nice to look at. There was just a basic porch with chair and tables. The rest of the garden only consisted of grass and weeds.

Shadow said nothing as he dragged the teen down the small steps, leading onto the grass. It suddenly occurred to the blue hedgehog he wasn't wearing any shoes, so being pulled onto a ground that was covered in mud was not a good feeling. Or so he would have thought had he'd not given up caring two years ago.

With no more warning, Shadow reached back and grabbed him by the shoulders. Then he felt himself be pushed against the wood work of the rather high porch, his head only just reaching the railings. Shadow then took the remaining cuff and snapped it around one of the metal poles, securing Sonic in the mud.

"What are you doing!?" Sonic yelled out, pulled against the chain, hoping that by some miracle he could dislodge it and escape. He had been so focused on doing that and kicking the porch in frustration, that the next part scared him almost to death.

He started screaming when he felt the force of cold water belt him in the back, drenching him in his jacket. It didn't stop there though. Too afraid to turn around, Sonic closed his eyes and pulled harder at the chain, fearing screams still leaving his lips.

Shadow stood from a very small distance, a hose pipe in hand and set at full blast. He grunted at the pathetic reaction, keeping the water aimed at the homeless teenager.

"You're being ridiculous" he stated, stepping closer so he could reach. With his spare hand, he tried to snatch the jacket away, but Sonic stopped panicking quickly enough to swing his free hand out, almost colliding with the agent, who almost got wet himself.

"Enough!" Shadow cried, aiming the hose as Sonic's face now, partly because he had to wash his hair, partly out of spite.

Sonic kept having to spit the water out his mouth, shivering when Shadow concentrated on wetting his quills for now.

It was horrible! HORRIBLE!

He didn't care if it was just a hose, he could die from this! The amount of times his dad threatened to hold him under the water if he ran. The times his brother threw him in the sea knowing he couldn't swim. Water was always his punishment, they always played on his fears! Why did Shadow need to do this to him? It's so much more dangerous now! He must not let him take his jacket away! He can't!

Shadow dropped the hose on the floor, but left it running. Sonic hadn't seen before, but Shadow had brought out shampoo, conditioner and all the other wash things he would need. Shampoo was first, and he would need to use a lot of it. Shadow never bothered about his appearance, or any personal care in general, but he had a house maid that would come in to clean and go shopping for him. She often brought back fancy products that promised to turn you into a new man, and while he used them, he didn't dwell on them.

Now however, he was glad for what she bought. Apparently one product wasn't enough and in this case, it definitely wasn't. Shadow undid the lid and dolloped it onto Sonic's head. The teen cried out at the weird feeling, not having done this in years. It felt like an egg pouring down his face. But quickly Shadow got his hands in, and rubbed his fingers through.

He was rough, and very aggressive, and Sonic felt like he was trying to rub his way down to his skull. Shampoo kept getting to his eyes, which he rubbed away, but not effectively. He couldn't decide if Sonic was trying to wash his head or pull his quills out, this was so painful, yet when he was going to say something, the water was back, drowning him in a sea of misery.

"Whhhyyyyy?" he moaned, spitting water out again.

Shadow kept focused on his mission. "I gave you the choice, you opted for the hard way" he stated, before reaching out for the zip of the jacket. Yet, before he could lay a finger on it, Sonic kicked out with his bad leg, catching Shadow, but not very hard. The ebony hedgehog looked down, realising there were still stitches and wounds he would have to be careful of. Water would be fine, but not at such a high force.

Knowing Sonic wasn't going to let himself be undressed, Shadow had only one other option. He grabbed the bottom of the jacket and pointed the hose underneath, aiming especially under the arms.

"AHHHHH! I'LL HELP YOU WITH EGGMAN, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm baaaack. Sorry it took a while to update this, got half way through then life decided to show up.**

 **Anyway I'm glad everyone like the slow, chill down chapter last time, it's nice to know that it keeps people reading with the serious doom and** gloom **stuff.**

 **Speaking of which, enjoy ;)**

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After surviving the terrifying ordeal, the fireplace was lit up and towels were placed down on the floor in front of the flames. Sonic sat cross-legged, a towel draped over his shoulders while he shivered restlessly. His eyes fixated on the flames, ignoring the black hedgehog who walked into the room with a blanket in hand.

"It wasn't that bad" he huffed, already annoyed at the drama.

Sonic gave himself a stiff lip. "I could have died."

Shadow rolled his eyes, sick of hearing it. "For the last time, you were not going to drown by a hosepipe."

"Pfft, the way you were doing it I could have."

The conversation then ended, Shadow refusing to get into this argument again. He stood near the fire, eyes cascading over the shivering form of his prisoner. The blue hedgehog had taken off his socks, letting them dry over the horse rack, much to his annoyance however, the tracking bracelet was kept on. Fortunately, it was water proof. The scar from the bullet wound was intensely visible now in the burning light, it has scabbed and was irritated from the water. However, it wasn't just the scar that Shadow had given him that was now visible, but clearly others that hadn't been noticed before until now. Areas where different scars ran across his legs and feet were covered through dark blue fur, but now the skin bared through, giving thin lines almost like lightning strikes over his legs.

Than however, Shadow looked up. Sonic had happily removed his socks and the bandage that was around his ankle so that the coldness wouldn't make him ill, yet he still refused to take off that jacket. It was ridiculous! He wouldn't even take off his gloves. He was shivering like mad! No matter how close he got to the fire, he wasn't doing himself any good. The jacket was damp, and clung to his skin. Even though he had the towel over him, it wasn't making a difference. All he was going to do was catch hyperthermia.

Perhaps Shadow had been too hasty in blasting him with cold water… outside, after it rained and the wind still blew strong.

"You need to take that thing off" he said.

Sonic looked up at Shadow for a moment, but only stiffened his lip and turned back to the fire, pretending he was fine. By far the agent was not in the mood to deal with this again. The only positive outcome of this ordeal was the horrible odour from the younger hedgehog had finally gone and he was actually clean. But the jacket stunk, smelling of wet fur instead of pine wood that the fur cleaner promised on the label. Shadow had managed most areas, but Sonic wasn't letting him anywhere near his arms, or near his jacket. All he could do was dump a load of shampoo on Sonic's head and let it run down as he washed it off.

It had taken a good hour to finish the awkward job, Shadow wasn't about to let him win now.

"Sonic take it off or I'll rip it off!" he snapped, startling the young lad.

His head shot up towards the agent, eyes now filled up with worry as to what might happen. He had to take a breath, nerves getting the better of him. How could he fight such a small request?

"I… I can't" he sighed, his head dropping low to his knees where he rested his chin.

For a moment Shadow said nothing, his mind seeping into a brief thought. It started to occur to him, something he hadn't considered before. Perhaps the jacket wasn't the problem…

"If you don't take it off you could get sick. What if I gave you another one to wear instead?"

Instantly, Sonic's ears lifted. His head was facing towards the black hedgehog that stood beside him, eyes widened with an emotion that Shadow could not place. He looked neither happy nor upset. It was just a blank face with large eyes.

"Um… y-yeah… yes please" he muttered slowly, as if having to debate it in his mind. Despite the indifference he felt towards his situation however, Sonic was certain of one thing; he was freezing and wanted that blanket in Shadow's hands, but the douche bag was using it as leverage to get him to remove the jacket.

"Alright" Shadow answered, dropping the blanket, expecting Sonic to replace his towel with it. The hedgehog did just so, sighing happily in the comfort of the material.

Shadow left him, and went to his bedroom.

Clothes wasn't something Shadow ever wore. In fact, he couldn't remember if he even had any in this house. It was while since he had been home, his job requiring him to travel around. The only time he would wear an outfit was during undercover missions, but Rouge dealt with all that. He did have a walk-in closet ironically, but it came with the house. Shadow preferred to store his guns and other weapons in there instead. Only he had to clear them before Sonic arrived. No weapons for the prisoner to use. So, all he had in there was a couple of jumpers for the winter times (for extreme frost, providing no one was there to see him), a bullet proof vest, a formal suite which he still had yet to wear, and a red coat that was much too small on him.

He lingered in front of that coat, eyes fixated on its thick padding and rich crimson colour. Shadow kept it in perfect condition. It served as a reminder to the promise he made that day. He promised he would pay that child back for saving his life, for giving him purpose.

Well Sonic was here now… trapped, wounded… frightened?

On one level Shadow felt it was almost repulsive, the twisted turn of events that led to this. What could he do though? Sonic is a thief, and not a minor one either. He's pulled off some of the biggest heists G.U.N has seen, robbing millions from banks to small corner shops. There have been reports of assault from when police officers have tried to catch him, not that he believed Sonic would do this out of violence, but his means of escape was to use his speed to run away. Too many times an officer has been in the way and ended up getting hurt from the sheer force, knocking them back into walls or tables.

The only way Sonic could escape a prison sentence was to help them capture Eggman and prove that he was working under the forceful direction on the madman. However, Shadow worried the kid was too stubborn. He clearly couldn't see the severity of his situation or how important this mission would be to himself, as well as millions of others who would be free from Eggman's terror. Sonic didn't want to know, and Shadow knew why.

He was terrified of Eggman.

So much so that he couldn't trust… anyone.

This was a problem. Shadow needed his trust. He needed him for this mission to work. There was already a plan formed in his mind, and he had hoped to reveal it this morning before everything kicked off again. Now though, he had time to think of this on his own. He knew the best way to get to Eggman and it was through Sonic. Without the blue thief, he had nothing! There was no way his plan would work without him.

Shadow stared back at the jacket, it hung loosely on the hanger, same as it had done so for two years.

It was a risk, this could go either way. Sonic could blame him or this could prove to the blue hedgehog that he could trust him. Whichever way, Shadow was willing to take the risk. He took the coat in hand walked back to where Sonic sat in front of the fire.

"Here" he said while offering the coat.

And then... nothing happened. Sonic accepted it without any problems and then stood up, ready to leave the room so that he could change.

But then he felt the material in his fingers. Oddly it was familiar, soft and padded, and no doubt would be warm. The colour of the material was nice too, a rich crimson red, with golden hems at the seams, and a small gold ring on the zipper for decoration.

His hands started to feel wet, and this time it wasn't because of the water.

Sonic knew this jacket, he remembered the last time he had seen it... "H-how..." he stuttered, barely able to keep his hands from trembling. He opened it up and looked inside for the label. There it was. His name embroidered with golden thread.

This was his coat. The one he gave away.

"How did you get this?" Sonic frantically asked, but his question was answered the moment he looked up. His eyes locked onto the ruby orbs of the black and red hedgehog that stood before him patiently, waiting for a decent response. However, Sonic felt that he couldn't give one. This was like being slapped in the face, with a brick! Shadow... the man outside of the School... he had blocked him from his mind. He didn't remember what that man looked like, what species he was or even the colour of his fur. He never wanted to think about him, or recall that he existed, because whenever the memory seeped into Sonic's mind, all he could picture was his sister lying in blood while crying. His dad glaring at him with hatred in his eyes, his mother and sisters afraid of him... but worst of all... he saw Eggman. The malicious, psychotic grin that haunted him every night. The monster that forced him to steal, to attack, to become a mindless slave, never letting him forget about the past. How his actions could effect the ones he loves... how easily he could harm Tails.

Sonic blocked that man out of him mind, because if it wasn't for that man, sitting in front of the School, hungry and cold, Sonic never would have been late for class. He never would have given his coat away, never would have argued with his parents, never would have hurt his sister, never would have ran away... and never would have met Eggman.

The red coat dropped to the floor, and Shadow sighed after feeling he had waited long enough.

"Listen, I just want to say-" He closed his eyes when he spoke, but perhaps if he hadn't, he would have seen the metal bar coming, before it slashed across his face.

His vision blurred a moment, white lights and black dots as the searing heat tore at his flesh. His legs gave way, and he crashed to the floor. All Shadow could see was the red splatters on his white gloves, and Sonic standing above him with the poker tool that had been resting in the fire.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys, thank you so so so much for the reviews and support.**

 **Sorry it's taken so long to update, but I kinda lost motivation. But I'm back now and hopefully the story shall progress lol.**

 **Please leave a review and hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

Despite the open cut that lined across his cheek, no doubt leaving a scar in the future, Shadow paid no attention to it. Instead his natural defenses took control and he leapt to his feet, bracing his stance and clenching his fists ready to fight one last time.

Yet, there was no fight to be have.

The blue hedgehog, who a minute ago was ready to create bloody murder, was now staring down at the ground, letting the fire bar fall from his hand while doing so.

Shadow was already confused, but the next part just left him stunned for words.

Sonic sighed deeply, sadness filling his eyes. "I'm sorry" he mumbled quietly, before walking away towards the door and leaving Shadow alone.

The agents was frozen in place, staring dumbfounded at what just happened, unable to figure it out. He had expected another fight, why would... this didn't make sense.

Then, almost acting as an alarm clock, the phone rang, snapping him back into reality. Shadow shook his head, resisting the urge to ignore the phone and throw himself into a pillow.

"Who is it?" Shadow asked, no formalities to be expected from him, especially as he planned on hanging up on anyone who wasn't important to him.

 _"Oh uh, hello. Is this Agent Shadow? My name is Vanilla, I recently had young Tails placed into my home through the child care service. I was told his friend Sonic was staying with you, and he wanted me to ask if he was allowed to speak to him?"_

Shadow was silent for a moment. With so much going on, he forgot about the kid, until luck had it his memory finally jogged and he soon understood the question. However, his mind was still racking as to what to do about Sonic, that he felt he didn't have time for this. For all he knew Sonic was escaping out the window.

"Yes right, well, Sonic can't talk right now, so if you'll excuse me-" he went to hang up, but Vanilla stopped him.

 _"Wait wait, please Mr. Shadow, I'm afraid this is important. Tails is terrified of the lighting, and he refuses to stop hiding under his bed unless he hears from his friend, is there anything you can do?"_

Shadow held the phone away as he groaned, irritated at how badly times this was.

"Fine! Just... leave me your number and I'll get him to call back" he said, before taking a pen and notepad and writing down the number she left him. With that out of the way he could start looking for the blue runt that had a habit of running away.

His first thought was to check the front and back door, in case Sonic had chosen to run out into the city again. Fortunately that wasn't the case as both doors were locked and keys still remained in their hidden place. At least this meant he was still in the house, but where?

Shadow took a brief look in the kitchen, laundry room and dining area. No sight. So went up stairs, and before he even reached the top step, he figured out where Sonic was hiding.

At the end of the hallway, between the two bedrooms that were opposite each other, was a small, simple closet room, which was used to store up old junk that he considered an eyesore. Only normally the door was closed and the light was off. Evidently, the light was on and the door was opened a jar.

Shadow approached it calmly, not wanting Sonic to freak out.

He opened the door, and sure enough, the blue hedgehog sat inside on the floor, his knees drawn up and his face buried into them. Shadow didn't know whether to slap him or console him. But rather then fire up another argument, the black hedgehog opened the door as wide as it could go, and squashed himself into the closet, sitting down next to the thief who had to shuffle to make room.

This was the only reason Sonic looked up from his arms, and Shadow didn't fail to notice the tear stains on his mussel.

It was silent for a moment, but it wasn't completely uncomfortable. Due to the small space they had, Shadow was almost completely pressed up against Sonic's legs, and he was careful not to catch his foot. The kid still wore the soaked through jacket, but that wasn't something he was dealing with just yet.

Sonic barely looked at him, just kept his eyes drawn down while wiping his face.

"Look... I understand that you're angry with me. I should have told you, but if this information had been leaked then I would have been taken off the Eggman case, and I've worked too hard to let that happen now" he lied.

Sonic closed his eyes tiredly, he like he was about to say something, but no words left his mouth, instead all he could manage was a simple shoulder shrug, feeling too low to even agree.

Shadow started to frown, feeling he was in too deep. Never in his life had he comforted someone, he didn't even know what to say. Part of him wanted to ring Rouge and get her to do it, but she had made it clear he was on his own. So it was down to him, and he was far from happy about it. Still, this was his responsibility, and he'll be damned if he couldn't handle any task or challenge before him.

Built with determination, he lifted his hand, and very very hesitantly, he went to place it on Sonic's shoulder, but stopped at the last second for no real reason. He didn't like touching people or being touched, and this was not something he was getting over easily.

Finally he settled with placing a hand on Sonic's knee, not noticing the disturbed look on the hedgehog's face. It quickly ended though after a brief pat and a very pathetic "there there".

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sonic mumbled, raising his brow at the agent. Shadow merely grunted, keeping his hands away now.

Now it was time to get straight to the point. No more messing around.

"What happened to you after you helped me?"

Sonic sighed sadly, almost placing his head back in his lap. He didn't want to talk about it, yet what choice did he have now?

"My dad did." He took a deep breathe, "When I came home we got in a fight about me giving you the jacket, he had spent a lot of money on it, so... you know. I can't remember what he said, or what actually happened, but I had to get out. So I ran away that night. I stole money from my parents room and left. I didn't know where to go or what to do, so I ran... just ran and ran until I couldn't any more. I don't know where I ended up, or how far I had gone, but it was just another city. I tried getting into a hotel, but they wouldn't let me in without an adult. So... I made the stupid mistake of sleeping outside. A group of guys saw me... and... attacked me. They stole my bag, which had the money in and left me with nothing, except this" he held the piece of the jacket in his hand.

"Anyway, that was my life for a bit, sleeping on the street, looking for food in the bins, having to beg only to be kicked down. I basically ended up like you did" he sighed, finally looking Shadow in the eyes, but the agent felt an empathy that was too deep to look back.

"And Eggman, how did that happen?" Shadow asked, not wanting to deal more with the thought of homelessness.

Sonic looked away, the memory being an extremely painful one.

"It happened seven or eight months ago. Eggman always goes after those who are desperate, who will be willing to do anything. Tails was with me at that point and... he was really sick. I-I didn't know what to do. If I took him to the hospital then they'd send him back home, a-and I couldn't do that to him! His parents are worse then mine. One of Eggman's henchmen found us outside of a pharmacy. I had used my speed to try and steal some medicines for Tails, but I didn't know which one he needed. The guy said his boss could help us, a-and I dunno, I was desperate for help! Tails wouldn't survive the night otherwise."

He stopped talking for a moment, having to inhale a trembling breath before he could even think of the next part. Shadow could feel the tremors from where he sat.

"I went with him... and I met Eggman. He offered me everything I needed, a place to live in, protection against the police, the medicine Tails needed, he even offered to pay me to work for him. I thought it was too good to be true" he laughed bitterly. "He promised... Tails wouldn't be hurt if I did it..." The smile was gone, twisted into despair. "You have to prove your loyalty... You have to submit to his rule... You have to surrender..." Water spilled from his wide eyes, as images of horror tormented his mind.

"Surrender? Surrender what?"

The boy was silent.

"Sonic. What did he make you do?" Shadow urged, gently placing his hand on the blue hedgehog's arm, but that set off a reaction he had not expected to happen.

From the single touch, Sonic threw his head down, grabbed onto his ears and began to scream tortuously.

Shadow pushed himself back out of instinct, almost knocking things off the shelves. The hedgehog was screeching out so loudly that his lungs should be bursting from the impact. He would struggling to even breath between every shrill, as he cried for his life. The agent wouldn't be useless however, not now.

He placed his hand on Sonic's back, rubbing firmly between his spines, the other he used to remove the blue hedgehog's hands from his ears, before any damage was done. The teen couldn't breath, he could stop screaming and he couldn't stop the tears from flowing. It wasn't hard to figure out now that he had a sever case of PTSD, and that he himself had triggered it.

"Calm down" Shadow repeated, possibly more aggressive then he had intended to. Sonic wasn't doing so however, and it was to the point he himself didn't know the best course of action was.

It was beyond his knowledge, and there was only one real option. He needed to call for help.

Standing up, he left Sonic screaming and crying in the closet, while he walked to his room, grabbing his cell phone before heading back as quickly as possible.

Before he even dialed the number, he sat back down in the tiny space he hand, and finally letting go of all his comfort, he placed his arm and the blue teen and pulled him close into his chest, causing Sonic to have his screaming muffled by the white fur he cried into. Yet, as unsure as Shadow was about this, he felt the boys arms eventually wrap around his torso, no longer resisting the force hold he was in.

"Rouge, I need you to come over, and bring a Doctor."


	15. Chapter 15

**Boom! Back with a chapter and it's a big one ;)**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

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An hour or so had passed, and Shadow had waited outside of the spare bedroom for what he deemed as too long with only an irritated white bat as his company.

"One thing Shadow. I asked for one thing" she mumbled, her arms crossed over as she leaned against the wall, clearly in a foul mood. Not surprising however, as her hair was currently up in rollers and she had no make-up on her face, relieving the tired bags she tried to hide under her eyes, as well as skin blemishes.

Shadow didn't care how she appeared, he was just glad she hurried over. Though at this point he regretting calling.

"I had no other choice. He needs to be part of the mission and I will do what needs be."

"By getting a mentally unstable guy to relieve a traumatic moment in his life? Yes, well done, that's very convincing" she hissed.

"Eggman did something to him, and I almost found out what it was. Once I have that information I can put a stop to it..."

"Oh shut up!" Rouge snapped, being louder then she intended. Shadow raised his brow.

"Admit it, the only reason you're doing this is because you feel guilty for getting him captured. That's why you wanted him to stay with you instead of a prison cell. If anything that's why you've both been fighting each other so much, you want to help him and he won't let you."

Shadow quickly turned his head away, growling under his breath in annoyance. By this, Rouge knew she had hit the target mark. "You know I'm right."

He did, but it was for reasons he couldn't tell her. "I need him for the mission. Nothing more."

With a deep sigh, Rouge didn't feel the need to much the matter any more. Shadow was the most powerful person she had ever met, but he was also the most stubborn. If he didn't want to listen, then he wouldn't.

"Just... make sure you haven't screwed him up too much" she said, before walking away.

Shadow grunted, but when she left, he felt a slight dip in his chest. She was right... this was his doing, and he needed to fix it.

First thing he did was walked across the hall and into his own bedroom, where he retrieved a green over size human jumper, one he didn't even know why he still had... But it belonged to Maria.

He then waited again, until finally, the door opened, and out walked the G.U.N tech guy Espio.

"I'd at least have expected Rouge to bring a real Doctor" Shadow snidely remarked.

Espio was not one for words, or emotions, much similar to the black hedgehog, but in this case, a slight look of insult was dancing on the chameleons face. "I am more then qualified in medical cases. Besides, all the medical department refused to come after what he did the last time."

"Tsk, they shouldn't be so weak. Regardless, how is he?"

"Tired for one thing. He needs to sleep Shadow. He's been awake for thirty six hours! He's also frozen, he said you doused him with cold water outside in the storm."

Shadow paused a moment, eyes briefly looking away as he struggled for an argument. "Ugh..." was all he managed before being over spoken.

"I don't want to know. The flash backs and sudden out bursts are a result of clear trauma, like you said. He's not physically unwell in anyway other then minor injury to his leg. I checked his blood pressure, it's high, but that could be from stress."

Shadow nodded his head, "So, what you're saying is he's fine, nothing serious to worry about."

Espio looked him dead in the eye, appearing to wanting nothing more then to punch the agent in the teeth. "He. Has. Trauma! That's a very big, serious, thing. You of all people should know that."

Shadow visibly flinched, before Espio left him alone to his thoughts.

He wasn't alone for long though, refusing to let the chameleons words sink in, Shadow distracted himself, by walking into the spare room.

Sonic was sat on the bed, knees up and head rested on his arms once again. Espio was right, he looked really to fall off and sleep on the floor. His eyes were drooping and only opened once Shadow made himself known with his heavy foot steps.

Nothing was said at first, so Shadow held out the green jumper, "here" he said.

Sonic's jacket wasn't so much wet, but damp enough to still make him shiver, refusing to take it off. So when given this jumper, one that didn't have horrible memories attached to it, he was much more receptive. He took it, then to Shadow's surprise, place it over his head, and pulled it down... over his jacket. This was just getting annoying now. Sonic was covered, and before putting his arms through, he pulled around underneath, taking the old jacket off first, then pulling that off over his head with one hand, and finally putting his arms through the jumper.

"You couldn't have done that in the first place?" Shadow grumbled.

Sonic narrowed his brow, "You gave me a coat, so no."

Shacking his head, he wasn't having a repeat and let the matter go.

"Doesn't matter. You're fine now."

"You didn't need to bring a Doctor, I would have been fine" Sonic commented.

"Hmph, he's not a Doctor."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes I did have to. I didn't know how long you'd be screaming for, and personally it wasn't something I wanted to deal with. Espio helped you didn't he? Perhaps you should show more gratitude" Shadow said.

Immediately Sonic looked down at his bare feet, feeling lower now then he did before.

"You know, despite what you think... not everyone is trying to hurt you."

The words cut him deeper then expected, and the blue hedgehog felt lost for words. He knew his anger and fear often got the better of him. He always expected the worst to happen and would do anything he could to escape. But... that's what he was trained to do. How could he trust people when no one has tried to help him before? Shadow couldn't understand that, no one could.

"Why... didn't you tell me before?" he asked, now thinking on all those moments Shadow had seen him, all the times he could have told him the truth. If Shadow had a no intention of hurting him then why was he so forceful and aggressive? Why tell him the truth out of nowhere?

Shadow for his part hesitated to answer, but in his mind, he knew that now was the time to be far, and explain truthfully. He turned his back, unable to face him. "At first I didn't recognise you until I shot you, by then it was too late to do anything because G.U.N stepped in. When we were at the head quarters, I didn't say anything because I wanted to use you for the mission. If it was reported that I knew you outside of the case, I would have been removed and Rouge would lead the investigation. I worked for so many years on bringing down Eggman that I couldn't lose it now. Yet... I couldn't watch you, suffering in that cell. I felt I owed you too much to allow that. Mostly however, I was worried I had left it too long to tell you, and I wasn't sure how you would react. I didn't... I didn't want you to resent me for what happened to you. I was... concerned... and I felt, I needed to tell you the truth. This is not easy for me to say, it never has been, but truly, I am sorry."

Shadow turned around, looking back to the blue teenager he confessed to.

Only to feel nothing but an embarrassed rage fill within him as his eyes set a blaze with fury!

The damn hedgehog fell asleep!

Sonic fell on the bed, eyes shut tightly, and was snoring. That damn blue bitch! He'd kill him!

Anger too powerful to even think straight, Shadow clenched his fists and resisted with everything he had not to grab a pillow and hold it over Sonic's face. That was the _first_ time he had let weakness slip and dropped his pride, and the git wasn't even listening!

Without any care to what Espio said about him needing sleep, Shadow opened his hand and smacked it across the blue hedgehog's head.

Sonic woke up startled, gasping loudly as he shot up from the bed, "WHA- W-what happened? Where am I?" he yelped, before looking around and remembering where he was.

Shadow stood by the bed, a deep glare forming from his crimson eyes that demanded spilled blood. That wasn't happening today though.

"Your fox friend called earlier, but you were too busy being pathetic. Call him back on this number" he snapped, before throwing the number he had written down and kept in his glove onto the bed before walking away.

"W-wait, I don't have a phone!"

That was the next thing thrown at him.

Shadow stormed down the stairs, annoyed, angry and most of all, embarrassed. Why he ever bothered to say those things he didn't know.

Back in the living room, Rouge sat with Espio, deep in conversation.

"What's going on?" he asked, making himself known. They both looked up and Rouge was the one to answer.

"We were talking about Eggman. I have an idea of how we can track Sonic's movements without using any equipment" she said.

Shadow instantly perked up, "Really? How so?"

She held out her hand, "Espio" and motioned to the chameleon sat next to her.

Mood ruined again, Shadow narrowed his eyes. "No."

"Why not?"

"He's a tech guy, all he does is test evidence for the real agents."

"He used to be out on the field a lot longer then you were Shadow. We need Espio, he can turn invisible, it's the perfect way to track Sonic."

"No!" Shadow snapped, ignoring all logical sense.

At this point, Espio stood up, breaking his silence, "As flattering as this is Shadow, I'm the only way you will get that boy past Eggman's security. I'm willing to help, so please will you leave the past where it belongs and move forward so we can finally get this evil off the streets?"

The offer was not that difficult of one, but Shadow was still too stubborn to admit that. He tusked loudly, crossing his arms over his chest and acting as if he was in the company of a fool. "It doesn't matter what uses you supposedly have, Sonic refuses to do the mission. Without him we already failed" he huffed.

Espio looked down for a moment, "I shall talk to him" he said, only to be instantly grated with a false laughter.

"You'd be more useless then you already are. I will talk to him" Shadow said.

Rouge quickly got in between the two before anything could escalate. "You've already done enough! I will talk to him."

"S-Shadow?"

The three of them paused, hearing the familiar voice from the doorway. They turned to see Sonic, standing by the door frame, a sort of panic and dread in his eyes as he stared at them.

"What is it?" the ebony hedgehog asked, taking steps closer.

He had to inhale deeply before he could answer, but finally, he did.

"I'll do it. I'll help you catch Eggman."

* * *

The day had come, one that Sonic dreaded for so long.

He had done everything to avoid this meeting, he had ran away so many times, and now he was back... damn it, he had to come back.

He stood anxiously at his pick up spot, out from the city along an old dusty road no one ever really used, waiting next to a weathered old billboard, with half it's poster ripped off.

Despite pain, he paced around, too scared to stand still. He felt a hand touch his shoulder, but couldn't see the person there.

"Don't threat, I'll be here the whole time" Espio said.

Even though he couldn't see him, Sonic still looked into his eyes. "W-what if something happens and I loose you? What if you don't get past the security systems, or you can't get in at all?"

"Focus. We have a task force ready at hand, Shadow and Rouge are one step behind us all the way, you won't be abandoned. If there are any issues however, stall for as long as you can. All we need is Eggman's location and evidence, then this will all be over."

He wanted to take comfort in those words, so badly, but his fears clouded his mind. Sonic couldn't trust them. He wanted to, but couldn't. He was terrified. Swallowing his thoughts, he was ready to argue once more, but the sound of a car, driving along the road, and pulling up onto the side, caught his attention instead.

Sonic could feel his throat close, now wishing more then ever he could grab hold of Espio's hand, in a pitiful attempt of reassurance, but he couldn't. All he could do was pray Espio didn't leave him.

With a trembling stance of uncertainty, he slowly turned around, knowing what he was going to see. The black car, tinted windows, and a large enough boot to carry a body in.

The door opened, no one stood out though.

This was it. This is what he had worked so hard to try and avoid. He wanted to run! He could run away so easily. He had his shoes back, the tracker was taken off his ankle, he was free. Why risk his life? Well... he knew why. So, without giving in to urge to flee, Sonic mentally slapped himself until he felt stronger. He had to trust Shadow, he had to trust Shadow, the thought raced through his mind again and again. Now, he would face his demons, and he would not give them the satisfaction of seeing how frightened they made him.

With fists balled tight enough to turn his knuckles white, Sonic walked up to the car, and stepped inside. The door was shut firmly behind him.

Being as skinny as he was, it wasn't hard for the large pair of hands to grab him around the waist and throw him down into the middle seat, strapping him in tightly. Sonic swallowed hard, feeling another pair of hands grab his wrists.

He didn't know if Espio had made it into the car or not, but he had to pray and trust that he was there. Because right now, the hardest thing was not calling for help.

A thin wire was woven tightly around his wrists, securing them in place. "Agh!" he exclaimed, hands now shaking from the lack of blood flow. Yet there was no use in saying anything. He was sitting in the middle of two robots. All they knew were orders, with no level of emotion or empathy. The other robot, larger then it's companion, took out the blindfold he knew too well, and proceeded to cover it over Sonic's eyes, blocking out any view, or chance of remembering the road to Eggman's location.

This was it... no going back.

Shadow would be his only hope now.


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm back baby! And this chapter is a biggie!**

 **I will warn you, this is possibly the darkest chapter, so yeah... how do I give a warning without spoiling it ?**

 **Anyways, hope you all enjoy, please let me know what you think. Oh and as a reply to one of the reviews I got, no it's not Sonadow, it's supposed to be father/son relationship, so none of those scenes are gonna happen okay. NOT Sonadow!**

 **Okay, enjoy ^^**

* * *

" _Tails? Are you okay? How are they treating you?" the blue hedgehog asked rapidly, hiding himself behind a closed door where he would feel out of sight and out of hearing range._

" _I-I'm fine, really. You don't have to worry. Vanilla is so friendly, and she has a daughter my age called Cream, she makes me cakes whenever I feel down" was said with a small chuckle._

 _Sonic sighed, eyes closing for a moment as he caught his breath. The thought of his little brother being in any kind of danger made his spines bristle. "Thank Chaos."_

" _I just wanted to talk to you Sonic. They're already talking about sending me to School, a-and I recently met a few other kids but..."_

" _But what?"_

" _They make fun of me" the young voice confessed, sadness seeping into his voice._

 _The older boy stopped his hand from balling up on instinct. There was nothing he could do about those kids for now. "Tails, just keep away from them. In fact just stay away from anyone. It's not worth the risk. J-just keep with Vanilla until I escape, then I'll come get you and we'll leave."_

" _Is that a good idea? Won't you get into more trouble?"_

" _I don't care! Tails I can't... I can't stay here. This stupid Shadow guy is trying to use me as bait to catch Eggman, and he's not letting up. Every time I refuse he... (sigh) I just need the right moment to try and escape again" Sonic spoke quietly, yet remained reassuring, whether it was for Tails or himself, he didn't know._

 _The fox, though younger and normally the one seeking comfort, swapped roles, the moment he sensed the anxiety in his brothers voice. "Sonic. Why don't you want to help them?"_

 _For a moment he was silent, his emerald eyes almost shrinking as the gut wrenching sting of betrayal crept in. "What?! Are you insane! You know what will happen to me if Eggman gets me again. Shadow's just going to leave me with him. It's a trap! I'm not falling for it!"_

" _P-please calm down, I-I didn't mean to upset you. I know you don't trust easily, b-but I've been speaking to Vanilla, and she's known Shadow for a while. Apparently he's really good at his job and he's saved so many people, sometimes even the world, and he's never been given credit. I really don't think he's lying to you. I think he just wants to capture Eggman. I think you should help him."_

 _His hand began to shake, "Tails I can't! I... I can't do it. He'll torture me, and Shadow will leave me."_

" _But Sonic, if someone doesn't stop Eggman, his army will get bigger and bigger and soon he'll be powerful enough, not only to rule the underground, but the whole world."_

 _There was no response._

" _If he's captured, you'll be let go. And Vanilla said you could stay with me! This might be the only way we can be together again."_

 _Sonic lowered the phone, unable to accept the hard truth Tails was relating to him. He didn't want to accept it. He's always been good at running away, it's all he was ever good at. But he could never run from Tails. He would never break that promise._

 _Looking around, Sonic realised he had confided himself to none other then Shadow's own room. It was bare and minimal. A simple bed, a closet, and a desk. Nothing else to speak of. Only one thing made it to his attention, which was a simple photo of a blonde human girl with big blue eyes, resting on the desk next to a laptop. Who the girl was, Sonic didn't know, nor did he care. Yet, something in the girl's smile made him think of the smile Tails would always give him, the moment he thought of hope. Sonic could only imagine it, the sadness in that small child's eyes, but with a smile that would make you think the world was about to change for the better. No doubt that was how he looked now, praying with hope he'd be listened too, and Eggman would be caught._

 _How could Sonic fail him now?_

* * *

New theory. Tails was working along with Shadow and Eggman, they had been planning this for years and this was a terrible idea.

They had been driving for a while, he could see none of it. This is how it happened. Eggman would let you know one way or another he wanted a meeting, you would go to your assigned location, you were then bonded and blind fold to stop any chance of finding the secret location. When seating in the car, the robots scanned you down, searching for any tracking device, whether it be external or internal. Apparently Eggman had caught a few traitors this way, which was why security was extreme. But he didn't know if Eggman had prepared for invisible chameleons or not. If Epsio was even in the car or not. He hadn't heard anything, no shuffling, no small whispers; just the sound of the road. Had he not been about to confront the crazy man, he would have given in to his urge to cry.

Espio did not make it into the car.

The purple chameleon clung with his adhesive ability, the best that he could do, against an agitated wind that stung his eyes and freezed his fingers.

There was no way he could have squeezed into the car without touching someone, or thing. Even Sonic had to flung over the metal robots. So before the car could pull away without him, he had leapt onto the boot and had been still ever since.

The tracker in his gloves flashed red on and off, signalling that it was emitting his location to the G.U.N van that followed at a far distance behind, far enough not to be seen, and to the two agents that ran/flew off road close by, but out of sight.

"Target is heading towards the forest" Rouge called down to Shadow, watching from the holographic monitor on her wrist. Shadow didn't respond, but kept to the directions he was given. He knew this would be his last shot at taking down Eggman for good. Nothing would stop him this time.

As said, the black car turned off from the road into an opening not meant for a vehicle of that size. The two agents followed behind. Only they may had been lagging too far behind, as the moment they stepped into the forest, the tracks from the car lead them past a series of turns, beyond trees, that soon started to feel repetitive and confusing. All they could do was follow the tyre tracks, yet they seemed to be leading them in circles. They had no sight of the car, their view being blocked by the thick trunks of bark. At one point Shadow skidded to a halt, feeling himself growing overwhelmed. "No... no" he mumbled, spinning around in what seemed like an endless torment of trees. He felt all sense of direction drain out, and for the first time in a while, the sense of panic started to grow.

"Shadow!" Rouge snapped at him, shaking him from his trance as she grabbed his shoulders. "They've stopped, we need to go" she said.

Hearing the news, Shadow focused once again, following her lead.

As she said, they soon reached the end of the tracks, which lead to...

"Espio?"

The chameleon, no longer invisible, was standing where the tracks ended, waiting for them to approach.

"Wha- Where's the car?!" Shadow growled, marching towards him with murder in his eyes. Rouge was quick to step in front, stopping any violence before it started.

"Espio what happened to the car?"

The ninja remained quiet, there was almost an amusement in his smile, much to their confusion.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. It's underground."

"What?"

"The ground" he said while stomping on the grass, "literally swallowed them whole."

Shadow narrowed his eyes, "Why didn't you stay with it then? How do we know this isn't another passage way?" he said accusingly. Espio didn't even acknowledge the emotion when he said, "Because the security to get in is so intense, the scanner almost picked up on me and I had to run. It came from that tree up there, so unless you got any official Eggman tech on you, we're not getting in this way."

After listening to the explanation, Rouge fell down to her knees, and for a moment, stared at the ground. "Damn it" she whispered, fixated at the very spot the car should have been. Suddenly, in a burst of anger the started to punch the ground, "damn it damn it damn it!" She stood up, furiously pacing as she threw her communicator to the ground. It may not have been her personal mission, but she had promised the blue kid they'd keep him safe. And she was also supposed to getting a bonus of priceless jewels upon completion of this mission. "There's no way we're getting in."

Yet Shadow, who had been surprisingly calm during this, turned to face his fellow agents, his arms crossed over his chest as usual, whereas a smirk rested on his face rather unusually.

"Yes we are" he said simply, holding out a Chaos Emerald.

* * *

Sonic was left in total darkness, not being aloud to move of his own free will. The "collector" robot had grabbed and thrown him over it's shoulder, leaving him tide and blinded. There was still no sign of Espio, and at this point he felt ready to be sick. There was no hope, he knew it. This was a set up, he was going to die.

Without knowing which way he was being taken, or what was going on around him, Sonic could only listen. Machines were grinding away, a horrible, mechanical shriek, echoing around, multiplied with wailing of chains as it worked with metal, clanging together in a place that made him think of hell. Even though he was surrounded by machine and oil, all he could smell was sweat and blood.

Suddenly, Sonic felt himself be lifted, and his breathing came to a halt. He was placed onto his feet, his old shoes returned and the tracking anklet being removed. Sweat ran down his brow, and not because of the intense heat of the surrounding lava he remembered from previous visits, all used to melt metal down, and sometimes to get people to talk. There were faded screams in the distance, and all the nightmares were suddenly flooding his mind. He almost hiccuped when swallowing his fear down, as he was spun to face the man he didn't want to face.

The blindfold was removed. And there he was.

The large, looming figure, of a man, round in shape, and tall in stature, sitting on a throne made of metal, stroking the hairs of his long, out grown moustache.

Eggman. The devil of the world. An evil so horrid it was almost unbelievable.

But Sonic knew it all too well, and he couldn't find the courage to put on an act of bravery. His legs trembled at the very sight of this man, and he quickly forgot why he had come here.

The evil genius stared down from his place, a sickening grin, revealing yellow teeth, was met with a fearing quivered.

"Sonic! My old friend. I was starting to worry you wouldn't come back" he tormented, leaning back on his throne.

The small hedgehog cowered down, unable to move as his arms were locked in the grasp of the robot that brought him around. The surrounding were all to familiar, as was this situation. A new, fresh set of faces occupied the prison cells within the cave like part of the underground walls, all watching in a matching fear. A robot, equipped with guns and free permission to fire at any moment, surrounded him, while the metal grinding continued to linger in the air.

It had been six months since he was last here. It started to feel like hours ago.

If anyone pictured hell, this was it.

"But of course" the man responsible for it all continued, "I knew it was only a matter of time. How's your arm doing?" he taunted. Sonic looked away, and the man laughed manicly. "Ha Ha Ha! Not so slick now are we? Normally I'd give you a warning, but I haven't been getting any payments from you in a while."

With his ears picking up, Sonic quickly found his voice again in defence, "No no, I left the money where you told me too! I waited for the robot to pick it up."

"Humph, maybe so, but it's far less then what I demanded. Which makes me think you've been keeping some for yourself!" Eggman yelled, pointing his finger accusingly.

Sonic felt the panic return, clogging up his lungs. "No! I swear..."

"I have a robot spy watch you every time you do a heist. I know every location, every building, and every penny you have robbed from them. Do you think I'm a fool?"

"No.."

"Did you think I would notice?"

"N-no I-I..."

"I even saw your pathetic attempt to take that obviously fake emerald, a job that I did not assign to you, which lead to you being captured. Did you really think buying back your freedom would be so easy?" he laughed once again.

Sonic couldn't speak, the words twisted in his mind and no reason seemed good enough now. He didn't know what to do, how could he get himself out of this? For the first time since he left home, he wished his father were with him.

"I'm sorry!" he screamed, unable to handle to noises abusing his ears and the words draining all thought from his brain. "I didn't have a choice..."

Eggman spat at him, "Of course you did. You could have left that brat to die."

"... no" Sonic breathed disparagingly, unable to take it any more. His head hung low, and tears threatened to fall. Eggman stood up, and stepped down from the platform his throne was built upon, luring down to the broken hedgehog. He tusked, like a disappointed teacher, before reaching out a large hand, and gripped the hedgehog's face, forcing him to look up at his master. He sighed heavily, a sarcastic disappointment moulding his features. "I had such hopes for you. There was so much I could have used your powers for, and now..." he trailed.

Immediately, Sonic shook his head rapidly, his eyes pleading before his voice could.

Eggman continued his torment. "I-I'm hurt! Hurt! I gave you everything you needed. A home, a job, security, protection, I even let you keep that fox as a pet. Yet, how do you repay me? You give me only half the payment I ask for, you get caught, and when you escape, you come back to me for a place to hide. I... I just don't know how much more disappointment I can take from you."

Sonic knew Eggman had gotten it wrong, but at this point he had no reason to care.

Espio wasn't here. Which meant that Shadow, Rouge and the back up team wasn't here to rescue him either. They had abandoned him, just like he knew they would have. He couldn't... he couldn't hold back any more. A tear fell down his mussel, dripping into Eggmans hand, as all he could think of was Tails, and how he'd never see him again.

The mad Doctor grinned with a twisted satisfaction. He had the ability to make grown men cry, and this boy was no challenge for him. He wiped the tear away with his thumb, anyone watching would think he was feeling empathy. But the grin on his face said otherwise, he pulled Sonic up to the tips of his toes, making the frightened teen choke from the hold.

"I was going to make you the ultimate weapon in my army... but I suppose the animal in you will always be your weakness" he released his hold.

"Take him to the roboticizer."

"NOOOO!" Sonic screamed out, fighting his way free from the robot that dragged him, but his efforts failed. Eggman continued laughing as he walked back up to his throne, giving himself the best view.

"PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!" he screamed again, now facing the direction of his fate.

What looked like a metallic wall, suddenly began to raise, opening up to a new part of the underground factory.

Panic rang through Sonic's ears, feeling as if they were filling with blood as he tried began to kick at the robot. He was strong enough, he knew he was strong enough, but as soon as he did any sort of damage, a new robot would step in and secure him. The wires on his wrists would spark with every attempt to break them, sending vats of electric down his vein's. "No... please..." he wept, "I can't... not again..."

The wall had lifted, and relieved the roboticizer. A table, much like a surgical table, was the centre of the machine. Surrounded was tools used to maintain the robots, above it, was what created them.

A grinder, made up of small, razor like spikes, each ideal to strip away flesh. Among the instruments, a saw, and a welder.

"Help me... Somebody please..." Sonic wept again, loosing the will to resist as the robots forced him onto the table. The wires finally removed, but he was still restrained by the grip of the robots. They grabbed his legs, pushing them onto the table before an automatic energy beam shackle locked around his ankles. Before they secured his arms, one robot released a claw like tool from it's compartment, and latched on the collar of Sonic's jacket, the only thing he had left from his family. And then, in seconds, it was torn away, along with the rest of his clothing.

Exposed and humiliated, he was forced into restraints, his limbs being stretched beyond what was normal for him, while the tears stained his mussel in one final attempt for mercy. "Please! Eggman... I'll do anything! I swear, please don't do this, I'm begging you" he cried out, his voiced shrilled and horse from the pain his pleas were causing him.

Eggman didn't even respond. Instead he laughed harder, enjoying every moment of this torture. He raised his hand high, giving the signal. "Begin."

The grinders switched on, and began the pick up speed, as did the saw soon afterwards. The noise what he had heard before, and Sonic knew there was nothing that could save him now. He tensed up as the grinders lowered down, a shrilling scream ripping apart his lungs as he braced for the horrific pain that was coming. The saw was lowering towards his arm, and suddenly all he could see was the imagine of the family he ran away from for this. The grinders dropped.

"SONIC!"

A flash of chaos lightning blinded the mad scientist, which followed an explosion that blew him backwards out of his chair, scattering his robots around him.

The sound of grinding stopped, and all Sonic could hear was white noise. He opened his eyes, but the world was blurred, with red spots dancing in front of him.

Nothing in his mind registered what was happening. He had no recollection of who that voice belonged too, nor did he feel the heated shards of metal that fell down onto his skin, burning where they landed. Motion. There was motion, something wrapping around him while the world spun in an awkward sort of way. He felt like he had been lifted into the air... was this... death? He felt so numb, everything felt white, he wanted to sleep... he drifted, eyes rolling up to escape the shapes and colours that tormented him. With a short, unexplainable sense of peace, Sonic finally escaped, his thoughts being left behind.

* * *

The steaming smoke that shrouded the whole area was quickly lifted, lights flickering on and off as they struggled to function with the lack of energy flowing through their cores.

Below them were the sparks of electric, as hoards of robots rushed to their masters aid, firing lethal lasers at the sudden intruders. An army of G.U.N soldiers spread out from the multiple entrances, each taking cover with their target locked on to the robots.

Eggman's escape had been blocked, and he hid within a circle of his strongest robots. But that wasn't going to save him, not this time.

Shadow spun high into the air, dodging each laser that shot at him. The Chaos Emerald had been absorbed, giving him an extreme boost of power as a red aura reflected from his silhouette. He summoned multiple spears, throwing them down to the robots which were destroyed on instant impact.

Rouge used her wigs and flew above the fight, dropping down her own personalised heart shaped bombs on the robots, creating more damage then the enemy already had. "Shadow, he's in there" she called out, pointing to where the mad man hid.

Shadow nodded, ripping two robots apart at once with his hands before tossing them aside. He marched towards the heavy robots, their attacks being absorbed within the energy shield he made for himself. When close enough, Shadow summed up every shred of energy he had left from the emerald. "Chaos... Blast!"

Within seconds, a black energy bolt took out every robot surrounding Eggman at once, shredding them up into small metal scraps, all of which fell and covered the old doctor who hid his head under his hands, lying on the floor weakly.

This was the moment Shadow had been waiting for for a long time. His teeth bared through an almost possessed smile, and he summoned one final spear, draining the last of his energy.

"Shadow no!" Rouge swooped down, and grabbed Shadow's arm before he could throw the spear. Angrily he turned to her and snarled, "Let me go!"

"Listen to me! Eggman will pay for what he's done to you, but not like this" she said, her eyes growing soft as a glint of worry shined through.

Shadow breathed heavily, not wanting to listen, he wanted this to end here and now, and yet, her words got to him. Not because he agreed, but because this type of death was too good for him. Eggman needed to suffer.

Regaining control, Shadow made the spear disappear. Happy with his choice, Rouge smiled widely, quickly planting a kiss to his cheek before he could flinch. "I'm proud of you" she said warmly, choosing the ignore the sudden confusion and disgust in his eyes. Then she let go of his hand, and he turned back to Eggman. The mad man remained on the floor, but grinned none the less. "Shadow, what an unexpected surprise. I didn't think you'd have the brain cells to find me."

It didn't matter what he said at this point, Shadow sensed the fear hidden behind his voice. He felt no need to respond. So instead, he did something he had wanted to do for a long time.

He swung his leg and round house kicked him across the face, sending the obese man into the wall, leaving a dent before he fell to the floor unconscious. "Take him away" he ordered before Eggman was cuffed and dragged away by multiple G.U.N agents.

Feeling like the world had been lifted from their shoulders, Rouge walked up to Shadow and was about to speak, but the black hedgehog turned his heels and ran away. At first she didn't know why, until she saw who he was running too. "Oh no.."

Behind the rubble of what used to be the roboticizer, Espio sat on the floor, surrounded by soldiers who worked to clear a path way. His hands were together, pressing forcefully against the chest of the young blue hedgehog that lay in front of him. Espio counted to ten each time he did this before placing his mouth down on top of Sonic's, blowing in the air that the teen was lacking in.

Shadow fell down to his knees, his eyes widened and his own breath being lost in his lungs at the sight he saw. Rouge was soon at his side, before she could question it, her own shock mirrored that of the black hedgehog's. "Oh my gosh..." she choked, covering her face in her hands.

Espio's efforts had been paying off as the short burst of air passed through his lips, jolting his limbs and causing twitches in his face whenever he did so. Yet it wasn't enough, and Espio kept going, knowing he needed the help to breath. His body was far from lifeless, and it wasn't that that made Shadow and Rouge immovable. It was what they saw, for the very first time.

Sonic's right arm. Perfectly symmetrical to his other in shape and size. However, this arm was not built with skin and bone, but instead, a translucent mould of plastic material revealed the horrifying truth of what Eggman had been doing to people. The inside was made of metal. A mechanical, robotic arm, with only a thin layer of soft plastic to act as skin, melted onto his shoulder and breast plate which were scared and red with infection and bruises. This is what he had been trying to hide from them. From the world. He wasn't being difficult for no reason, nor was he trying to cause problems. He was trying to protect himself.

Rouge was right... Eggman was going to pay for this.


	17. Chapter 17

**Orrhmaahdaays I'm actually back wuuuut?**

 **So I've been away for a long while, and honestly I lost interest in this story, but then just randomly I'm back into it, so yay I guess. Anyway, I really hope this chapter does well, it goes deeeeeep and very very emotional, I thought so anyways.**

 **Anyway, please leave me a review and let me know if you're happy this story is back again, if not then, well leave me to weep in my bed of tears. Lol got deep hehe.**

 **Oh by the by, I have re-written chapter 9 and 10, there were things that I wasn't happy with, a few inaccuracies and basically I think it's better for the story line this way. So yeah, please enjoy and thank you in advance.**

* * *

" _Tails!_ "

Sonic opened his eyes with a startled gasp. For a moment the world seemed blank, nothing registered in his mind besides a string of bright lights. Quickly he closed his eyes again, feeling them begin to burn, and raised his hand to his face, groaning as he felt several joints click as he did so. Every part of him hurt, his body felt too stiff to be able to relax. Where was he anyway? Last he remembered... oh no...

Opening his eyes once again, Sonic immediately sat up, almost yelping at the sudden stabbing he felt go through his arm. With rapid breathing he looked around, sweat beads falling past his cheeks.

It took a good moment, but soon the world looked less disorientated and objects fell into place. It was a white room, and he was lying on a bed, covered with a thin sheet. Surrounding him were machines, but none of which belonged to Eggman. Looking to his left, he saw a heart monitor which bleeped away in a rapid manor, but which soon settled the moment he paced his own breathing habits. Then looking at his good arm, he saw several bandages, all wrapped from his wrists to his shoulder, and beneath them, several tubes, each connecting to either a bag of something or wired to a machine.

He didn't like that, that didn't feel right. On instinct Sonic started tearing at the bandage until the he could find the point of the needle that stabbed into his skin. Without hesitation he pulled each of them out with his robotic arm. He winced with each one, not being a fan of needles in the first place. Normally he would make a big fuss, but in this instance he started to feel a burning in his right shoulder, or more the skin that connected to the shoulder. He had been feeling this pain for a while now, but today was so much worse. After removing the needles Sonic went to look at his foreign limb, that's when he realised he was no longer in his brothers comfortable hoodie, but instead was wearing a white dress thing, a hospital gown? He rolled his eyes, could his dignity suffer more? Feeling the pain to intense on his right side, Sonic used his now free arm to reach behind and undo the ties on the back. Easily he freed himself and removed the gown, then threw it to the other side of the room.

Now, able to see what was going on, he checked out the damage. What he saw though caused him to hiss through his teeth. About four inches past the metal connecting to skin was pure red and irritated, he could even see veins pulsing away, growing less visible the further they went into his peach stomach. He had to bite his tongue, just to stop himself from making any noises.

Okay this was bad, that he could admit. It's never looked like that before.

Without a thought, Sonic shuffled his way to the edge of the bed, being careful not to disturb his arm any further. If he had any other injuries then he didn't know about them, nor did he care. He just wanted to find someone, preferably Tails. He didn't have much of a plan, or even a thought as to where he was going or what he was doing, but he just wanted to leave. His feet touched the floor, and for a moment he wobbled, being unsteady and now nauseated. He had to lean against the bed just to regain balance, and stop his head from spinning.

"H-Hello?" he called out weakly, waiting in hopes someone would magically hear him. There was no response, so with another grunt Sonic pushed himself back to his feet, head spinning frantically. Maybe he should have waited in bed.

He staggered and thumbled around trying to find the door, but all he achieved was knocking over a table which held a tray full of medical tools. The noise was loud enough for him to grab his head and yell out at the horrid spasm it caused, but inevitably it did the trick.

While Sonic staggered backwards with his eyes closed, he felt his legs buckle before he could make it back to the bed. He had expected the impact to the floor to be hard and possibly damaging, yet, that didn't happen. Instead he fell into something soft and unexpected. It felt like a pair of arms holding him up while his legs were being useless. Finally he opened his eyes again. Part of him knew who to expect, but the reality was far from what he was prepared for.

When looking up, the first thing he registered was blue fur, blue fur that was darker then his own yet so familiar that he couldn't fight back the smile. "Dad?" he whispered, eyes finally meeting with the amber orbs that he once used to fear.

"Dad?" the man repeated in a confused manner, but Sonic didn't notice. Instead he threw himself into this person's hold, tightening his arms around the warm torso and burying his face into the fur, refusing to ever let go.

Shadow had expected many reactions, but this was not one of them. The agent, while having gotten used to people being in his life and dealing with certain levels of interaction, was still not accustomed to having his personal space invaded like this. So despite better judgement, he placed his hands gentle around Sonic and made him sit down on the bed, knowing if he just let him go he would fall, then pushed himself away from the resisting teen.

At first Sonic didn't understand, he felt like his father was walking away from him again and instantly reached out to grab his hand. That moment however, he recognised the glove, and the golden ring around the wrist. Suddenly the blue coloured fur was no longer blue, but black with a red stripe. With a startled gasp he let go, looking back up into the amber orbs which were now red. The image of his father was no longer there, instead Shadow stood in front of him, his brow raised in wonder and concern. His father was there. His mind played him again.

"I-I... I'm sorry" Sonic whispered, his hand reaching for the shoulder that burned from all the movement, only when his fingers embraced metal, he remembered. Then he panicked.

"NO!" Sonic kicked out to Shadow, something the older hedgehog had grown accustomed to, who dodged out the way as Sonic tried to hide away his arm. Restricted in his movement he grabbed the bed sheet next to him and threw it over his robotic arm, praying it would actually help.

Shadow moved to restrain his other hand, it felt that this was now the only way they could interact with each other, only this time he was too much of in a good mood to lose his temper. "Hey it's okay, I know, I already know" he reassured, pulling the sheet away to reveal the arm. Sonic still tried to hide it however, turning his body away whilst his head fell into his hand.

It was all too evident for Shadow, Sonic was ashamed, whether for letting Eggman get him or for everything else afterwards, but he was truly ashamed of himself. While not being great with words, Shadow knew better then to ignore this. He reached out and briefly ran his hand over Sonic's head, carefully avoiding the bandages below his ears. But even that action was too much for him, so he settled for pulling up a chair in front of the blue boy and slightly patted him on the leg. He was not good at this.

"Listen, because of you Eggman was finally arrested."

Sonic slowly raised his head, "R-really?"

"Yes. We have him in custody."

"So... it's over? H-he's finally gone?"

"Well, not yet."

If there was a moment for Sonic to fret over his safety it was this point, and apparently it showed. Shadow raised his hands calmingly. "It will be fine! Okay, it's just... Eggman is claiming to have been framed. He's arguing that he was an ignorant sponsor for the underground mob and that when we caught him it was the first time he had been in that lair, and he himself didn't know who was running these machines."

"But... he's lying! No he can't do this! This isn't fair, you caught him h-how can..." Sonic quickly lost his breath, and not wanting to cause any more injury, Shadow reached for his shoulder once again trying to be of any comfort. "I know, but it's okay. It's a military operation, the judge is not an idiot. We have a decent amount evidence to place him as the forth runner, we can get him. It's just a little more time alright."

It wasn't though, as Sonic threw his hands to his face once again, shaking his head frantically, "No, no he'll get me, he kill me for this! His robots are still out there, he'll go for me and Tails I know it! He'll torture us I know he will, I can't do this again!" he cried, fearing breaking his voice while he trembled. Shadow paused for a moment, his eyes scanning over the robotic appendage. He saw all the scaring left along with it, the irritation on the skin and the swelling it caused. Chaos could only imagine how it must have felt.

"Sonic... we made a deal, and you held up your end of the bargain. So, you're free to go."

The blue teen looked up again.

"The charges have been dropped, you wont have to face any penalties for what you stole, and your record has been wiped clean."

But, despite the good news, Sonic still remained sad. His hand clenched together in uncertainty, "W-where will I go?" he asked, sounding almost distant from reality. Shadow had expected as much, without a real home and a constant fear to follow him, there weren't many options for this kid. But there was his own personal debt to pay, and he felt this would settle it. "You have two options. There is a program that G.U.N personally fund, it's a boarding school for troubles youths. In it you will resume your academic life, first they will put you in the counselling program, helping you work through your past traumas and helping you develop techniques in how to deal with them. You'll be provided with physiotherapy, on campus help, and be enrolled in multiple activities to help build up social and team work skills. You can meet other kids your age who, while truthfully won't have had the same experience as you, will have gone through their own versions of hell. And at the end, when you graduate, there will be a job for you here at G.U.N."

No matter how anyone tried to sell it, Sonic couldn't stop shaking his head, "School... you want to send me to School to get over what happened? How am I ever going to get over this? Throwing me into a room of kids I don't know... and strict routines... no, no I can't... I... no" he sighed, feeling completely overwhelmed by the idea of a new, very intimidating lifestyle that he knew he couldn't handle, not right now anyway. He couldn't, it was too much for him, he hadn't been to School in two years, he would be so behind, then he'd have to deal with all the other kids asking questions, asking about his arm, asking about Eggman, asking about his speed. Then what if they threatened him, he couldn't fight back if G.U.N were in charge of this School, he was screwed.

"Well, Sonic, either way you have to go back to School, you're fifteen and it's the law" Shadow explained, but Sonic just kept shaking his head.

Reaching up to scratch his ear, Shadow carried on, "There is the second option, if you would actually listen for once."

Sonic sat up and listened.

"While the trial with Eggman is in pending, I know you wont feel safe, so if the School program is too much for you, you can continue staying with me."

Immediately Sonic's eyes widened, his lips parted from each other as he felt no breath draw through. His eyes began to sting.

"I know it hasn't exactly been pleasant, but if it would make you feel safer, then I have agreed to a leave of absence until the trial. I will home School you until your ready to return to an actual School, Vanilla has agreed that she will also bring the fox boy along for home tutor once a week also. You won't be a prisoner so you'll have freedom to leave the house, but personally I would prefer to know in advance to help keep you safe. I will accompany you to your future therapy session, which are mandatory and you're not getting out of doing, and frankly, will be your guardian until the trial is over" Shadow finished, placing his arms over his chest.

For a moment, Sonic's face was unreadable. Tears were starting to spill from the kid's eyes, which he quickly wiped away, yet it was hard to tell if he was grateful or terrified. Shadow began to wonder if the suggestion had been a mistake to bring up, but then, seemingly random, Sonic tried getting up once again to walk away.

Shadow quickly stopped him, pushing the dazed hedgehog to sit back down again. But at this point however, Sonic looked almost completely out of it, like he was drifting into a different world. "Hey, look at me" he urged, lightly slapping the boy in the face. Then with a startled gasp Sonic snapped into reality and stared at Shadow with uncertainty. It took a moment for him to come around, and at this point Shadow didn't dare remove his hands in case Sonic took off again.

"I'm sorry" he breathed, "I just... I started to think of my dad then..." he flinched, fearing he said too much, so before Shadow could talk, he did instead, "Why are you still helping me? I-I don't understand. You got what you wanted, and I thought you hated me..."

"What? No of course I don't hate you, why would you think that?" he snapped back.

Sonic remained silent. After a moment of observation, Shadow removed his hands and rested back in his chair.

"I know I've lost my temper with you, and I should have been more patient, for that I am sorry. I've... just been so desperate to stop Eggman before he could hurt anyone else again, that I forgot I was hurting others."

"... what happened?"

Shadow sighed, he owed the kid this much. "I've been tracking Eggman for five years. It started with bank robberies, wiring millions from government funds. A big deal but nothing life changing, at least not for me. This was the case for a year, or so I thought. I had a lot of hatred for the world, I felt entitled and everyone was beneath me. But then, I had Maria. She opened my eyes to a new way of life. Before, I couldn't care less about people's lives, nothing would stop me from getting what I wanted. G.U.N knew they could never stop me, so they recruited me, and Maria was the one to thank for that. She made me see that each and every person, whether good or bad, each had something special about them, they all had the ability to do the right thing when the moment called for it. That was something I never saw before, not until she pointed it out. Suddenly I saw murderers spare a child, a thief give to the homeless, and while they were still criminals, it gave me a sense of hope for this world. I no longer lived for myself, but I lived for her, to show Maria that she was right. She saw the best in everything and everyone that I started to see it also.

But then Eggman came along. He captured her. In return for her safety I was to bring him the four chaos emeralds that G.U.N had obtained. The General refused, saying her life was not worth such a price. So I went behind their backs, took the emeralds and gave them to Eggman. However, I should have listened the General, it took me so long to see that now. I never planned on leaving Eggman alive after that encounter, I went to strike, so he sent out his robot. It was over so quickly, I ripped that robot to shreds! I gave no thought... until my hands were covered in blood. Eggman... had placed her in the robot... alive. I had been the one to murder her."

The tension had built so much that Sonic didn't dare move, not even to wipe away the flowing tears from his eyes. Shadow stared down into his hands, droplets of his own tears dispersed along his gloves as he relived that moment, seeing his mistake come to life once again. He had repressed this truth for so long, he had forgotten how it felt to cry for someone.

"I... regretted... everything. I left G.U.N before they could fire me, I gave up my home, because it all reminded me of her. Rouge... tried to help, but I forced her away. I made her hate me. And then, I just... walked. I left my city, and everything I knew behind, I didn't know where I was heading, but I didn't care. Six months later, it was winter, I was cold, hungry, and ready to give up my life. I was no longer worth a chance. I had received no kindness since the day I took her life, only scorn and torment, and that was all I expected. Until I met you" he looked back and stared intently into the greens orbs of the fifteen year old who wept quietly, whose own face grew red and swollen, who bit down on his own hand to stop any sound as he choked his breaths away.

Though stronger at this point, Shadow felt his lips quiver. "You... pain in the butt kid, would not leave me alone until I took food and that stupid jacket of yours. You wanted to help, and I don't think you'll ever comprehend how much you helped me, with that one simple act of stubbornness. At that moment, all I could think of was Maria, and... I truly felt that she had sent you to me" he reached out to brush a tear away from Sonic's face, but the boy pulled back, too upset to let anyone get close. "You saved me" Shadow carried on, "That day, you made me remember what she said, how every one was worth something. And you gave me what I needed to go home and face my fears, to take down Eggman once and for all. I owe all this to you, because that one act changed my life for the better" he finally, for the first time in possibly years, Shadow finally smiled.

But Sonic didn't. His only real hand trembled as he rubbed at his face.

"And that was the day you ruined mine!" he yelled out angrily, pushing again to his feet to walk away, wanting to be as far away from the ebony hedgehog as possible.

The smile quickly faded, and Shadow stood up as quick as the other did. "Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog was frantic though, pacing around the room and pulling at his hair. "Because of you my dad yelled at me! Because of you I hurt my sister and ran away from home! You're the reason I have this!" he screamed, holding up his robotic arm with hatred, yet he still couldn't control himself as he wept. "If you had of just been somewhere else! If you hadn't been there I would be at home now... I wouldn't have a metal arm, or a best friend who almost died because I couldn't afford the medicine to save him! You ruined my life! And now you want to give me this crap that I'm a hero when all you did was get a reality check, and I had to sleep in a room filled with people Eggman tortured to death because I didn't get him enough money!"

"Sonic stop it."

"NO!" he backed himself into a wall as Shadow advanced. "Get away from me! You could never understand... You've never gone through the robotocizer, you have no idea what kind of hell it is! You have no idea what Eggman is really like, and now you expect me to feel bad for you!?"

"I didn't mean it like that, I just-" he got closer and Sonic could no longer breathe.

"It rips the skin off your bones..." he gasped desperate for air, "It breaks every nerve, every joint and replaces each part with metal... and it does it slowly... You can't possibly know what that's like, to be in so much pain you wish you would die... and I had no choice! You had to submit. You have to prove your worth or Eggman would let Tails die, and I couldn't..."

Unable to take anymore, Shadow threw his arms around him, silencing him by pressing the blue teens head into his chest, he rested his head on top of his, and tightened his hold to an uncomfortable amount. He had never hugged someone before, and he still didn't like it, but he needed the kid to stop talking, or else it seemed he was going to pass out. Shadow knew about the horrors, but he never imagined they ran that far. He feared so much that he would be blamed for this kids choices, but now he wasn't sure if these feeling were genuine or built up in anger. He felt it was the latter, before Sonic had onto him as tight as he did before when he thought he was in the hold of his father. Shadow could imagine that he missed his family, and was too afraid to go back. He could also imagine how impossible it must have felt to deal with everything he had gone through, which sadly, even professional help would struggle with. But how could Maria ever forgive him if he didn't try?

"Listen to me, I know your hurt, but I promise it over now."

Sonic sobbed loudly, not believing as he shook his head. Shadow didn't let go, despite wanting to, against the light protest. "You'll stay with me. I will keep you safe."


	18. Chapter 18

Time could have passed by before his eyes and he wouldn't of noticed. Shadow was too far gone, sitting at his desk and buried in a pile of paperwork. It was no doubt the most boring part of the job, but one he would take just as seriously. Or in this case gladly. It had been five days since Sonic woke up at the hospital, and after their big blow up, Shadow couldn't bring himself to go back and visit. There was still so much tension, and he was too busy to deal with that right now. He did however keep tabs on the teenager. The doctors reported to him daily about his condition, whether he was stable or if any progress had been made, or any results. Unfortunately no one had contacted him today, and it was getting on for midnight.

With a sign Shadow closed the folder to his work. Updating these old files and writing the new ones had been oddly relaxing, a great way to keep his mind focused. He took his phone out of his desk's top draw and checked it again, still no missed calls. The hospital never failed to call, so why not today? This is what he needed to keep his mind off. There's no avoiding it now, he'd have to go and visit.

Placing his phone down, Shadow scooped up the files and stood up, only to be caught off by the loud voice entering his office.

"Shadow! What is this?"

Looking up to the owner of the furious voice, the ebony agent rolled his eyes as the General pushed his was through the door.

"What do you want?" he asked flatly, carrying on as if the man had never entered the room.

The General however, not one to be disrespected, marched over and slammed a new set of paperwork on the desk. "An explanation. According to this you have requested a leave of absence for, and I quote, "as long as you feel like" and have also applied to be assigned as an officer in the witness protection program in regards to the case of Miles Prower, a.k.a Sonic."

Shadow merely huffed, and placed down his files, no longer caring to file them. "What part do I need to explain to you?" he asked condescendingly.

"Shadow he is no longer an asset to this case, Eggman has been captured and as I recall the deal you made was to wipe his records after doing so. I told you to contact his family and send him back home, but instead you feed him lies! You can not go ahead with this."

"Why not?"

"Because we have no use for him! This is a waste of time. I need you out on the field, capturing the rest off Eggman's troops and getting more people like him off the street, not taking maternity leave because you feel guilty for some lowlife brat!"

At those words Shadow felt a chill down his spine, a cold, hatred educed chill that made his teeth grit. He kept his back to the General, fists clenching as he feared what he would do if he turned and faced the man. Yet, it wasn't for the words spoken about Sonic, it was the implication that he had gone soft.

"Eggman is not convicted yet. All of his so called 'troops' have been reported as MIA, and the prisoners that we freed refuse to testify against him. Right now, Sonic is all we have to make sure Eggman gets the death sentence. We have the evidence to prove this crime mob all relates back to him but we have nothing on the roboticiser, or that that technology even exists."

The General shook his head and paced around the desk "Well perhaps if you had been less distracted then you would have recovered the roboticiser instead of letting it get destroyed."

Shadow snarled, "Distracted? I captured Eggman! That was my job!"

"You allowed the biggest part of our investigation get destroyed all because that brat was in it, if you had of just left it alone, captured Eggman, and not destroy the one machine we needed to convict him, then this wouldn't have been a problem."

"Sonic would have died, I did what I had to."

"No, he would have become a robot, ergo, giving us the evidence we need for how dangerous Eggman is and would have guaranteed us his demise."

Shadow threw his fists down on his desk, punching his computer to the floor in a fit of anger. The General barely flinched. "You would have no care about his life?" Shadow spat, unable to even comprehend what he was hearing.

"Don't get high and mighty with me Hedgehog. You gave no care to Maria when I ordered you to protect her, why would I care for one of your kind?"

All he wanted in that moment was to rip that man's throat out and watch him bleed, perhaps, had there not been so much at stake, he would have. It took so much out of him to remain composed, to not show even a shred of emotion to the hateful and discriminative attitude of his commander. With deep inhales, it took much longer then he would have cared to admit to suppress his anger, to suppress his need of justice, all so he could turn around, and stare this man dead in the eyes. "Be careful of what you say, I'm sure the rest of your employees will feel differently."

The General paused a moment uncomfortably, a sure glint of regret emitting across his face. With a large number of mobians working for him, his personal views needed to be kept as that, personal.

"You have my formal apology, I believe we've gone off track. I cannot allow you to let Sonic live with you further, you are to contact his parents and have him sent home, however, he will still be used as a witness in the court hearing."

Shadow shook his head, "No. Part of the deal was that we not contact his parents, and I will respect that part of the deal as much as the rest."

"Then he will be placed in foster care."

"He can't! He's not well enough, he's suffering from delusions and thinks everyone is working for Eggman. I'm the only one who can protect him, he knows that. We need him for this trial, he can show his robotic arm and that will be enough evidence to support our case."

"That wont be possible."

Shadow raised his brow, "Why not?"

The General paused for a moment, though he appeared annoyed over what he was about to say. "The hospital contacted me earlier. I had given them specific orders not to remove the arm but apparently Chief of Medicine had over ruled in survival of the patient. Your little friend has been in surgery all day after collapsing. It had gotten too infected."

The General could say no more. Shadow began to ran.

In mere moments he was out of the HQ building, running at his highest speed down the street, pushing past anyone that was in his way.

The Hospital was shortly in his view and he didn't hesitate to burst open the doors and slip right in. With the sudden panic, doctors and nurses tried to stop him, but they could barely form a wall before Shadow had ran past. He ran up several flights of stairs, all of which lead him to the door he hadn't seen for five days. He threw it open, not caring how loud or how disruptive he was being. Three doctors surrounded the bed, each one pinning something down in their hands.

Shadow's eyes widened in horror at what he saw.

"Stop it... STOP IT!" He yelled, leaping at the nearest doctor and pushing him away.

"Sir you can't be here" they tried to protest, but he already got a look at the boys face.

Sonic was foaming at the mouth. His eyes rolled back into his head as his body spasmed out of control, while the peach of his skin ran raw with rashes. His arm, was no longer there, neither was his shoulder, and a quarter of his breast plate. They had removed the entire section, any trace of the artificial limb was gone, now replaced with layers upon layers of gauze, that oozed with red.

"Sir please" a voice said, while hands laid onto his shoulders, pulling Shadow away from the trance he was stuck in. "We have this under control."

"What happened?" he demanded to know.

The doctor replied calmly, "He's just come from surgery, there was complications getting him to wake up from the anesthetic."

"But he..."

"He will be fine. We have dealt with this before, so please allow us to do our job and stay outside" he was told, before finding himself being pushed into the hallway and the door slammed shut.

Shadow stared at that door for a long time, not knowing what he was feeling.

All he could think of, was how numb he felt. How the world suddenly felt cold.

Sonic... looked like he was dying, and there was nothing Shadow could do. He felt so helpless. Why would the hospital not tell him this was happening? Did they just assume the General would pass on the message?

It didn't matter. It should have been Sonic's choice, did he even want the arm removed? But then, apparently he was too ill to have decided. He should have had someone to talk to about this, someone to help him make this choice before he got too sick to handle the consequence... who was kidding, _he_ should have been there to talk to him about it. The doctors had kept him informed but he just assumed the kid would be alright, and truthfully he didn't understand a lot of the terms they used, and was too proud to ask.

But, if having the arm removed now would increase his health, then that was a good thing, right?

However, he now no longer has an arm. How will he cope? After being roboticised, Sonic adjusted to the new appendage really easily, being able to control it as fluently has he had done before with his real arm. His only concern was water leaking through the skin, and apparently getting it tuned up every month by Eggman. Shadow had hoped that Espio, or someone on the G.U.N team could keep on top of those adjustments from here on after. He saw clearly there was an infection, but the doctors were supposed to treat it and allow him to keep the limb. But now, now it was far too late. A whole chunk of his upper body had been removed. Not only has he lost his arm, but his dominant hand also. Now, he will have to learn how to write all over again, he will need to learn how to do basic skills with only one hand, such as cooking, cleaning, dressing, washing, so much he would struggle with now.

And the General wants him to go into a foster home.

No. He was his responsibility. The arm only got infected because of the explosion on the roboticiser damaging it. This was his fault. He would put it to right.

* * *

An hour had passed, Shadow was almost asleep at this point, when the doctor that had thrown him out before, again, laid a more gentle hand on his shoulder and woke up. "Mr. Shadow?" he questioned. Rubbing his eyes, the hedgehog groaned, "Just Shadow."

"Very well. Sonic's stable now if you would like to see him."

It felt like a lot of information in just a few words, and it took Shadow a moment to process them. "Shouldn't he be asleep?" he asked.

The doctor shook his head, "He's worried if he goes to sleep he'll have another fit, I thought perhaps you could help reassure him.

Shadow paused, "Could he have another fit?"

"Doubtful, he's on enough medication to keep his vitals at a normal level."

He merely huffed, not believing this doctor. Most likely everyone was tired and wanted to go home, probably not wanting to deal with a paranoid fifteen year old. Without any more prompting, Shadow walked into the room by himself, immediately frowning at what he saw.

Sonic was sat upright against all the pillows, but he looked exhausted. His eyes were opened only half way, and the thick black shadows lined beneath them. He stared only at his feet that were covered with a blanket, and swayed slightly as he fought off the urge to rest.

"Hey, long time no see" Shadow greeted, walking around to the side of the bed where he still had an arm. Sonic drowsily looked up and watched the agent sit on the bed at his side.

"I can't tell if you're real or not" he mumbled breathlessly. Shadow smiled in amusement, "Don't worry, I'm not a faker like you" he said.

"Huh?" he was too tired to even ask properly.

"I came in before while you were having a fit, I bet you were faking to get my attention."

Sonic was too tired to laugh. All was left was a lingering silence. With that, Shadow sighed, "Come on faker, you need to rest" he said while reaching over to adjust the pillows.

"No, no I can't... I don't want to go through that again" he moaned in response.

Shadow pulled away, but placed his hand against Sonic's head for no more then a second. "What happened to you today?"

Sonic shook his head, "I don't know... I was walking around... then collapsed. I felt them pick me up and... then place a mask on me. Then I wake up, and my arm is gone... and I'm in pain, I start to black out and... I don't know... I remember being sick and... I thought I was going to die... I don't want to go through it again... needles hurt... food is terrible..." at this point he started to ramble on, so Shadow shushed him to be quiet, already seeing that the guy was drifting off regardless.

"I'll keep watch okay, if you start dying in your sleep I'll wake you up" he offered. It was ridiculous of course, but this kid was doped up on meds and in desperate need of reassurance he wasn't going to die in his sleep. So he said what he needed too, and soon after, watched as Sonic finally closed his eyes.

"Please don't leave..." he whispered, before drifting away into a deep slumber.

Shadow smiled tiredly, feeling his own eye lids grow heavy with the weight of the day. "Promise" he whispered back, before getting up and pulling a chair up to the bed. There he sat down, allowed his head to fall back and closed his eyes. That night was the first time he slept properly in a week.


	19. Chapter 19

**Woop I'm back, back in the story ^3^**

 **I want to give a shout out to That Speed Hunter for the contribution of a certain nickname. Soon as I read it I was laughing, so thank you for the idea :D**

 **I really hope you guys like the new chapter, and please leave a review to let me know what you think.**

 **Enjoy x**

* * *

With an unexpected push, Shadow was forced out of his slumber. The first reaction was to raise his fists threateningly, but once his eyes opened to see the illustrious bat standing in front of him he settled down.

"Rouge, what are you doing here?" he groaned. Looking around he noticed Sonic was also awake and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Rouge crossed her arms, but kept her smile, "Huh, don't ask me how I am, how rude."

Shadow said nothing. He stood up from the chair he rested in and placed his hands on his back, cracking his joints until the stiffness alleviated itself. Apparently Sonic had meant to stretch as well, but as he reached out his arm, the movement caused him to wince at the area where a limb should have been.

"It will take a while to get used to that kid, no harsh movements" Rouge lectured, watching the hedgehog lightly touch the heavy amount of bandages, figuring out how much he could put pressure on it, turns out, not a lot.

"Ugh, I feel terrible" he moaned. Shadow helped him to sit up while Rouge made her way to the door. "Well you wont for long, I have a fun surprise for you" she smiled, before opening the door to his room. Before a word could be uttered, a smile tore across the hedgehog's face.

"Tails!" he cried out as the two tailed fox ran into the room and lept onto the bed, embracing his big brother.

At this point Sonic didn't care about the pain, he wrapped his remaining arm around the kid as much as he could and squeezed as tight as possible. "Sonic! I've missed you so much! Vanilla told me what happened and I wanted to come sooner but they wouldn't let me."

"Hey don't worry about it, I'm fine" he smiled forcefully, which didn't last as Tails frowned. "No, you're not. This is all my fault. If I hadn't of ran away from home, you never would have joined Eggman for me" the kid started to cry.

"No Tails, you can't think like that, run away or not, it doesn't matter okay, you gotta forget about that, it's not important."

Immediately Shadow scoffed bitterly. That's not what the guy said last time he visited! Hypocrite!

Rouge took a hold of his arm and pulled him away, leaving the two in peace. "You want to be any louder?"

"He blamed me the last time I was here for _him_ running away!"

"Calm down" she warned, sensing the level of aggravation growing in the black hedgehog. "He's hand time to think okay. I think he's excited to live with you."

Shadow, no longer agitated, raised his brow, "He is? How do you know?"

Rouge turned her gaze back to the blue hedgehog as he comforted the young fox boy, wiping away the kid's tears when Tails examined the amputated area. "I came to visit when you didn't. You're welcome."

He looked down in shame, but refused to show it, "I had too much to do. But it doesn't matter now. The General has refused my requests."

Instantly Rouge laughed, "Don't worry sweetie, as per usual I've taken care of things. I spoke to him after you left."

Shadow waited, "Well..."

She paused. "Sonic can stay with you until the trial, but by the looks of it, it's going to take five months."

"Five months? Why is this not priority?"

"Because Eggman, that's why. We're holding him in custody while his defence attorney work their case and we can get the rest of the evidence we need" she became uneasy, "This is where the bad news comes in. If Sonic stays with you then it has to be on the grounds that he will stand as a witness, if he refuses then, and I quote 'Do whatever the hell you please, but find a new job.'"

Shadow reflected on her words, silently crossing his arms and looking back over at the blue hedgehog. It was increasingly hard to read him, but Rouge could tell he was conflicted.

"And if he does agree?"

She sighed, "You keep your job, but you're off the case."

Twisting his head, Shadow snarled and sighed at the same time. "So either way I don't win, how convenient for the General."

"Don't be like that Shadow, it was the best I could do. He doesn't want to waist any resources on the hedgehog without gaining from it. If Sonic doesn't speak out then he's not worth the effort, plain and simple" she stated bluntly, much to Shadow's disapproval. "I thought you were better then that" he said.

"Oh come on, you know I'm just repeating here. The General is the one you should be mad it."

Shadow grunted.

"Besides, the case has been left to me now, so while you're busy being mother hen I'll take care of the rest" she teased, causing the other mobian to tense, "What are you talking about?" he snapped. Rouge laughed at him, "Oh come Dadow, it's obvious you care about this kid."

"I owe him for what he did."

"Then send him home, reunite him with his family, that would pay your debt right?" she grinned, Shadow turned away, pausing before he spoke. "He ran away for a reason. I'm not sending him back somewhere he could be hurt."

"Because you care?"

"Shut up."

While they conversed on the matter, on the other side of the room, neither person was listening to what they had to say. They had almost forgotten about Shadow and Rouge being in the room, happy to be reunited with each other at last.

The happiness for Tails could only last for so long, but when he sat on Sonic's lap and stared at the mountains of bandages that wrapped around his brothers torso, concealing the parts that had been cut clean away, he couldn't help but release tears from the guilt.

Immediately Sonic tried to wipe them away, but it was surprisingly difficult to use his less dominant hand to do so. "Come on Tails, you don't have to cry."

"But it's not fair... you did the right thing, why do you have to suffer?" he whimpered.

"I'm not, Tails I swear to you I'm not suffering, I don't even feel it... I'm on a lot of pain killers" he tried to laugh, but Tails wept more. "No come on buddy, if you cry, I'll cry, then we'll both be crying, it will look ugly, and there's a really cute nurse I'm trying to impress" he joked, finally earning a small chuckle from the fox kid.

Reaching up both his hands, Tails took hold of Sonic's one and sadly buried his face. "It's not just because you found me... I told you to help them capture Eggman. I was so selfish! I thought if you were able to be free then I could find you... I never thought you would be hurt" he cried.

After hesitating for moment, Sonic put on a soft smile before lifting the younger boys chin up so he would face him. "I don't regret it. We got Eggman, probably saved a lot of people too. Side's, probably better not to have a robot arm from that nut job, it might have blown up on me."

Tails still looked at him with misery.

"Come oooon, cheer up bud, I'm trying to make you laugh, but you need to give me a hand" then as soon as he said it, Sonic burst out laughing.

Hearing the loud eruption, Shadow and Rouge stopped talking and looked over, curious as to what was going on.

At this point Sonic was belly laughing, and wasn't settling down, "Boy I really armed myself with that joke" he laughed again.

"Sonic!" Tails groaned, not sharing in the enjoyment, but Sonic wasn't done, "I'm sorry I'm sorry, it's terrible... I'm an unarmed man" he snorted loudly, still laughing.

Shadow walked back over to the bed, glaring down disapprovingly. "Sonic you're making the kid feel uncomfortable!" he lectured.

At this point he struggled to grasp his breath, but did so enough to say, "You're right I'm sorry... this is really the pits!" then proceeded to laugh harder.

"How is he so happy?" Rouge asked.

Shadow raised his brow, suddenly realising the answer. "He's still has the anesthetic in his system."

"So he's..."

"Doped up like a moron."

Tails stared at the two older people before worryingly staring back at his brother. "Sonic please stop laughing" he begged.

Amidst the laughter however Sonic wouldn't stop, now wiping his own tears away, "Oh Chaos my arm hurts... nope wait, I don't have one!" he yelled merely.

"You didn't lose them both you idiot!" Shadow snapped, but to no avail. The blue hedgehog was snorting and laughing to the point of turning red. So Rouge, as usual, stepped in. She took a hold of Tail's wrist, as well as Shadow's and led them out of the room, "Give him a moment, let's go boys" she ordered.

Once outside, she closed the door, cutting off the laughter. She turned back and smiled kindly to the two tailed fox, who rubbed the last of his tears from his eyes. "Don't worry sweetie, you can see him again soon" she reassured.

Tails remained quiet however. Then surprisingly, Shadow stepped in, "Rouge stay here in case Sonic needs you. Fox boy, let's take a walk" he said, then immediately started to walk down the corridor. Without much time to agree or not, Tails had to rush to keep up to the hedgehog's side.

They walked in silence for a short time.

Having passed several rooms and descended a couple flights of stairs, Tails started to wonder if he misheard the black hedgehog, and wondered if this man was actually trying to walk alone. It felt like eternity until they walked into the hospital cafe and the man finally spoke, but it was only to tell him to sit down somewhere, which he did.

For no particular reason he chose the window seat, getting a really good view of the small garden outside. There was a cool looking pond next to the walk way, and a stream of water that bypassed a rose bush. He'd of loved to go see it properly, maybe when Vanilla came to pick him up they could visit it then. She wouldn't be here for a couple of hours however, and he wanted to spend a little bit more time with Sonic without hearing arm jokes.

A small clink noise grabbed his attention, and looking away from the window he saw Shadow place a cup on the table in front of him. He dread to think what the scary agent got him, he didn't like tea or coffee, he was just a kid. After giving it a quick sniff however, his eyes lit up at recognising the smell. "Hot chocolate! Thank you sir."

"My name is Shadow, don't call me sir" the agent replied.

Tails felt his ears lower, "Sorry... Shadow."

With an uncaring nod, Shadow moved on, "Tell me" he started, causing the kid to worry. "How did you and Sonic meet?"

The question wasn't so bad, but Tails still hesitated to answer, "Is this for the investigation?" he asked. Shadow shook his head though, "More personal interest."

"Oh" he picked up his hot chocolate and took a sip, "It's a long story but, I ran away from home..."

"Why?" Shadow interrupted.

"..." he took a deep breath, "My parents didn't want me. I think they were ashamed because of my two tails. They used to lock me in the house and refuse to let me be seen in public. Eventually when I did get out, I was picked on by people who saw me, and my parents didn't care. So seven months ago I ran away. I don't think they looked for me. I was only on the streets for a month, and during that time I got really ill. I don't know what I had, but Sonic said it was bad. That's how I met him. He found me lying in a box under newspapers... I don't even remember it. All I remember is that I was cold, and then he put his jacket over me. From that night he never left my side. He let me wear that jacket for days and carried me around on his back when looking for food. I loved it so much! He used to run at full speed when I didn't feel so bad, and he'd take me to the park at night, and the beach. We had so much fun."

Tails smiled at those fond memories, only regretting they couldn't last longer.

"He told me why he ran away from home, and we came up with a plan to make money, try and save up for a place of our own. Only I was getting worse. I stopped being able to work, and I couldn't breathe properly. Every part of my body hurt, and I didn't know what to do. Sonic tried to take me to a hospital, but without money they turned me away." He sighed lowly at what happened next. "It was then that Sonic got desperate. I didn't even know what had happened, but he left me alone in the park for a full day, a-and I was worried sick. I thought something horrible had happened to him. He was gone for hours but when he came back... he was smiling. I thought something amazing must of happened because he was going on and on about this guy who was helping us and now we had a house and I could get better... I was wrong. He didn't tell me until three days later. We moved into the apartment you found me in, and... I later found out to get this house he had to steal for Eggman. I didn't want him to break the law, I-I was terrified of him getting into trouble, but he said it was okay, that it was only temporary until we could save up for our own place. He said it was the only way he could afford medicine for me... I knew he felt bad for what he was doing, but he seemed confident, so I didn't bring it up again." Tails started to tremble. "But then... a week later... he didn't come home... and I was scared. I went to look for him, and I found him outside hiding behind the bins... his arm had been replaced with a robot one... and... and I felt sick! I couldn't... I couldn't look at him, it was horrible! But he did it for me... Eggman would only give him the medicine if he went through with it... I didn't even know I was dying... It's all my fault, I should have never let him care for me. He's the only family I ever really had and I put him through this..."

Immediately Shadow tapped his fingers against the table, making enough noise to silence the weeping child. "Stop it. Be grateful for what he did for you. You can't change the past and brooding on it wont help either. The fool might find it funny now but he's going to struggle over the next few months. If you spend all of your time regretting what happened then that makes all his sacrifice in vain. Appreciate what Sonic did and return it by helping us. I dread to think how whiny he's going to be."

Feeling those words hit deep, Tails worked hard to breath away the remaining sobs that got stuck in his throat. As blunt and aggressive as Shadow was, he was right, now matter how much he blamed himself. There was nothing he could do to change the past. Yet, it was all so strange, having this agent become a massive part in his brothers life. Sonic said this guy was horrible, yet so far, he hadn't seen Shadow be nasty abusive at all. Mean and scary yes, but not abusive.

But then again, Sonic didn't trust anyone... not since Eggman.

"Y-you're right... I'm sorry. I don't know what help I can be though. Sonic always looked after me, I've never had to take care of him before" he confessed.

Shadow sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Well, that's something we'll both have to figure out."


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello peeps, I have returned with another chapter after many many months. Honestly I've just been busy, and haven't been up for much writing inspiration. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, carry on writing or just leave it. Mostly because if a story doesn't do well it's hard to be excited about it you know.**

 **So this is kind of another trial chapter to see if anyone still cares if I progress or not.**

 **Please let me know in the reviews if I should carry it on.**

 **Please enjoy :)**

* * *

A few more nights passed and nothing much had changed. Shadow sat by Sonic's bedside mindfully reading a book as the blue teenager slept peacefully. Being an agent and giving Sonic's age, Shadow was able to stay as long as he cared too. He was more careful not to leave when he was wanted and to not overstay his welcome. But as Sonic had yet to make a choice on whether he'd act as a witness against Eggman, Shadow was on hold from his duties until the matter was resolved.

Sighing, he closed the book after finishing the last chapter. Shadow briefly glanced at the clock on the wall, 1:45am it read. Sonic was resting well enough and it was now as Shadow stifled a yawn he decided to take his leave. He might need it as often, but he wanted to sleep as well. It would only take minutes for him to get home.

Despite appearing so however, Sonic hadn't slept all day. He kept his eyes closed and relaxed as much as he could but his mind raced with thoughts and worries so much that he couldn't drift off. He didn't want to be sedated either, he didn't trust a lot of these doctors. His surgery left him bitter towards the people that supposedly were helping him and he wanted to be out of this miserable place as soon as possible.

Sonic listened as Shadow stood up and quietly left the room, carefully closing the door as to not make a sound. It was almost a relief now that he had gone, and Sonic felt he could move around and get more comfortable. He was finally able to scratch his nose which had been annoying him for a while now. It was juvenile to pretend to be asleep, but he couldn't help himself. Ever since their argument he and Shadow haven't spoken more about the matter, mostly because he didn't want to. It was difficult to go over what happened in the past again and he kept worrying over what would happen if he did stay with Shadow. No matter what he told himself, he couldn't bring himself to fully trust Shadow. For the past three days they barely spoke, over then the tedious small talk of generic topics. He felt uncomfortable around the agent, especially after finding out he was willing to do anything to beat Eggman.

It didn't matter at the moment though, Sonic thought as he turned his head on the pillow. He tried to rest for real this time, happy to finally be by himself for a bit.

It was all short lived however as he heard the door creak open slowly.

Internally Sonic groaned in annoyance. He tried to look like he was still asleep but he already knew who it was. Shadow probably back for more baby sitting.

Why couldn't he just- "GAHH!"

Sonic's eyes widened as something cold and metallic clamped around his throat, blocking his ability to breath. In a panic he lashed out, hitting and kicking what had a hold of him. His version was blurred, but soon adjusted enough to see the man who held him down.

Immediately he tried to scream.

It wasn't just a person, it was a fully robotised person who he was formally imprisoned and tortured with a year ago.

"Eric!" Sonic choked, recognising the mindless machine for whom he formally was.

Hearing the name made no impact on the robot as it lifted the hedgehog and threw him down onto the floor. Sonic gasped for breath as he impacted against the floor, giving him no time to react as the robot arm transformed into a weapon and cracked against his spine. "AHHH!" he screamed out, reaching to his back, but he was soon stunned as the force of hammer like weapon struck him multiply times. It all happened so quickly yet it felt like an eternity. Help wasn't coming, and he only had a second in between punches to react. With an adrenaline rushing immediately kicking in, Sonic swung his leg around and knocked the robot from under his feet, with a powerful kick to the side, it was thrown to the wall, taking out several of the hospitals equipment with it.

Quickly standing, Sonic struggled balancing himself as his heart raced and head swimming rapidly. The missing arm threw him still as he had yet to adapt to not being able to use it, but he would have to learn quickly, the robot started to stand up. He had to get away.

Sonic tried to run to the door, but when he opened it it was bolted closed. The lock had been melted making it impossible to get through. He banged on the wood. "Help someone help me!" he cried out. To his surprise there were already several doctors and nurses trying to force their way into the room. He couldn't see them but he could hear their urgent cries and the hustled efforts to free him from the other side of the door. They were calling the police, but he was running out of time.

A metal hand grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the door.

"NO! Eric stop it, it's me!" he tried to reason, but he already knew the guy he once endured hell with was already gone. The robot restrained him, and without his other arm, Sonic struggled to fight back. His throat was grabbed once again and he was lifted off the ground. This time he knew the robot would finish him.

The door began to shake, there was enough noise to show it was almost broken down.

The robot had no time. With it's free hand it punched through the window then threw Sonic out with the glass.

Everything felt as if it were going in slow motion. He fell screaming yet unable to hear his own voice. His back would take the impact of the ground and the last thing he would see was the sky. He would never survive this. Twenty four stories high, this was how it all ended. Tears spilled as gravity intended them to. As he fell all he saw was a high explosion from the room he was thrown out off. Fire quickly erupting and faces watching from the windows as he fell.

He closed his eyes, tensing and waiting for death.

Finally the impact was made. Everything was silent apart from the ringing in his ears.

A sudden sharp gasp ripped from his lungs and he opened his eyes, realising he was alive. His mind went frantic, Sonic's eyes darted everywhere trying to work out what had happened. It took him a moment to realise it, but he wasn't lying on the concrete floor, but he was safely resting in someone's arms. His jaw lowered, unable to register nor believe the truth of what happened. With watery eyes, he began to cry, grateful just to be alive. His one arm wrapped around the neck of his saviour, praying more then ever that this wasn't another hallucination. "Are you real?" he asked fearfully, knowing this could be a cruel trick of the afterlife.

But the G.U.N agent carefully placed him on the ground and helped him sit down. "It's me" Shadow assured him, struggling to find his own breath in that moment.

Quickly doctors ran to them both, Shadow barely comprehended where they came from, his own mind was swimming from the horror he had almost witness.

This was the only night he decided to walk home. Every other night he ran and was there in minutes. But this one night, the _only_ night, he decided to walk. He was barely at the end of the road when he heard the screams of onlookers, and the explosion that shortly followed. He barely registered what was happening before he leapt into action and managed to catch Sonic before he hit the ground. Literal seconds was all he had to realise what was happening and to act. His heart was beating like crazy, images now racing through his mind what would have happened had he not seen it, had he ran home like normal. It was something he couldn't comprehend at the moment, he needed to focus.

The doctors were trying to get Sonic back inside the hospital, trying to prey his grip away from Shadow's shoulders, but he kept refusing, a panic now setting in as soon as anyone else came near him. "Leave him alone" Shadow ordered, holding his hand out to keep anyone else away.

"We need to bring him in" someone said, Shadow didn't listen though.

He shook his head, still trying to make sense of it all. "What the hell happened up there?"

"W-we don't know. All we heard was the commotion, and then the explosion."

Shadow shook his head. This was so much to process. A large crowd had suddenly gathered around, and the police had quickly shown up. Sonic was now trying to hide from it all, hiding his face away in Shadow's arm. He trembled all over and looked as if he had completely shut off from reality. It was all too much, and whatever happened, Shadow wasn't going to get answers here. He grabbed the blue hedgehog and picked him up before running away at full speed, leaving all the nightmares behind. There was only one place safe enough to take Sonic now.

* * *

Sitting at his desk, the General watched the events of that early morning play out on the news from his tv. Photo's of the explosion had been taken and recording of the near sudden death of their thief had been played for all of the public to see while details were being retold by the news reporter. It ended with little information other then no one had been hurt in the event and Agent Shadow had ran away with the victim. The General immediately switched the tv off, angrily clenching the remote in his hand. Finally after waiting longer then he had said he would, the door opened and Shadow walked in.

"Care to explain this?" he ordered, holding up a newspaper with the headline of what happened in the hospital.

"You think I was involved?" Shadow questioned, not caring to be ordered or treated with disrespect. The General stood up and threw the paper down. "Where have you taken the thief Shadow? He should be back in that hospital being dealt with, but thanks to you there are now rumours that G.U.N was involved in the assassination of this stupid kid."

His eye lids lowered in annoyance, "I don't care what people are saying, it's your job to deal with that, not mine."

"Pretty soon you won't have a job" the General said, walking away from his desk.

"I was informed that it was a robot, likely one of Eggman's that was sent to kill this kid, self-destructing before anyone got a hold of it."

"Yes" Shadow agreed.

The General lowered his head and signed, "You realise that this completely compromises our case against Eggman right?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes and unfolded his arms, "How so?" he asked.

"Well Eggman can now argue that he wasn't in control of the robots as he was behind bars this whole time. Likely the robot targeted Sonic on the basis that he was helping us, if that's the case this explains why former victims refuse to speak out. But now I fear with the rumours of G.U.N's involvement in the event, it will be played against us in court and used to allow Eggman to go free. All they have to do is find someone to pin it on and likely knowing the mad man he'll choose you" the General explained.

"That's crazy, I took Sonic away because people kept getting too close. If I wanted him dead why would I save him? They have no case!"

"Shadow you were on that street when it happened. I've spoken to our lawyer and there's a strong case they can make against you. The fact that you were there could be twisted that you were waiting, and you saved him as a cover up."

The Agent shook his head, "This... this is madness, Eggman can't get away with this!" he shouted, blood quickly beginning to boil.

"And he wont" the General interrupted. "So long as Sonic testifies at court. Without him there is no proof, no witness statements and no chance of winning this argument now."

Shadow sighed, crossing his arms once again. "I won't force him" he said.

"Yes you will."

Shadow's eyes widened.

"Either he testifies or I will have him killed. And if he's dead, you will be the one taking the blame and have the Eggman empire fall onto your shoulders, as well as the punishment. I will not waste any more of my time on this nonsense."

"You can't do this!" he snarled angrily, teeth beginning to bare threateningly.

The General merely smiled as he sat back down in his chair, "Can't I? As I recall I've done it many times before, most of which I assigned you to."

Shadow balled his fists.

"Now tell me where you've taken him."

A silence quickly settled, and both men stared each other down. Shadow knew he could easily take this guy out, he had all the power and strength on his side, there was no competition. Yet, there was no point in the argument anymore. The General, as vile as a man he was, was not his enemy. It was Eggman that needed to be brought down, and as much as it pained him to admit it, attacking the General, or even defying him, would have it's consequences and Eggman could walk free.

He had no real options anymore. His hands relaxed by his sides.

"Fine. Sonic is at my house. Rouge is watching over him for now. I will get him to speak out, so long as my previous requests are met. Do we have a deal?"

The General smiled widely and held out his hand. "Deal."


	21. Chapter 21

**My days, you guys... Let me just say I was not expecting such a response on the last chapter, like I genuinely thought this story was dead.**

 **Thank you guys so much for the support and for the encouragement to carry on the story. It's giving me such a new love to start writing again and I'm hoping I will still carry on with the story.**

 **Seriously thank you all so much, and I hope the story lives up to what you're expecting.**

 **Oh also, shout out to fanakatsuki who reminded me I already used the name Axel on Sonic's brother, so if you haven't noticed, I've gone back and changed the name to Eric for the robot, so that way there's no confusion.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter and please leave a review xx**

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 _Sonic did everything he could to resist, but the two robots that grabbed his arms and restrained him were stronger then he was. He was forced down the dark and pitiful hallway, threatening in vain that he would destroy these useless tin cans the moment he got free. However he never got the chance as they threw him into what was known as the Red room and locked the door behind. Sonic stumbled and ran to the door, grabbing the handle and shaking it angrily. "Eggman! You can't leave me in here!" he yelled out, his fists banging loudly to be heard._

" _There's no point kid, you're wasting your breath" a voice softly whispered behind him._

 _With frustration Sonic closed his eyes. He turned around and leaned back on the door. When he opened his eyes though, an immediate horror settled in his stomach and his body began to tremble._

 _This was why it was called the Red room._

 _It was where Eggman disposed of the bodies of people who didn't survive his cruel experiments._

 _The walls and floors, all dripped in red, while corpses laid in piles on the ground._

 _Sonic screamed, turning back to the door and banging his fists once again._

" _Somebody help! Please Eggman, I'm sorry! I'll get you the money just let me out!" he pleaded. The owner of the second voice quickly ran up behind him and pulled him away, trying his best to calm him down. Sonic couldn't though, he pushed the guy away from him and quickly backed into a corner, chest heaving heavily as the sights laid deeply in his mind._

 _This man, a red furred wolf, was just like he was. Both of his legs had been robotised, meaning he had worked for Eggman for a while. He still had full control of his mind, and much like Sonic, he would try to hide his new robotic limbs from the world when on a job._

 _The wolf kneeled down in front of the hedgehog, trying to block out the view of the terror behind him. "Listen to me. My name is Eric, I'm in here same reason as you. You can get through this, I promise. Three days is all. I'm getting released tomorrow.."_

" _No. No please don't leave me alone here! I have to get back to Tails, I can't stay here" Sonic cried, eyes widened and fixated on the corpse that was half human half robot. His stomach became uneasy, and the smell was overwhelming. His hand covered his mouth as he felt his organs clench, causing him to gag. Eric quickly covered the hedgehog's eyes, trying to help in anyway, but nothing could help. Sonic, the weight of reality really setting in on him now, started to scream. Nothing would settle him, nothing would break him out of the trance. All Eric could do was hold onto him, and prey he would survive on his own._

Sonic stared into nothingness, the memory replaying itself out over and over again. Eric was a thief before Eggman recruited him, but he was a good person. It hurt him deeply that this was his fate. To be forced into a mindless robot, and to be forced to self-destruction, all to keep him quiet. He suddenly became away of how much he was trembling, but only when Rouge placed a soft hand on his arm and broke him from the torments of his mind. He looked up to her, redness and confusion clouding his mind. In her hand she had a glass of water, but he refused it.

She left it on the table next to the sofa where he was sat with his legs drawn to his chest. She had put the heating on but he still felt cold to her. Unfortunately she didn't know where Shadow kept blankets or if he even had any. All she could do at this point was wait. And fortunately, it wasn't long before she heard the front door unlock and someone walk in.

Running to the hallway to meet him, Rouge smiled as Shadow stood by the door, placing his keys in hiding place.

"How did it go?" she asked.

Shadow was quiet for a moment, walking past her to check if Sonic was where he left him. Satisfied at seeing the former thief still sitting on the sofa quietly, he motioned for Rouge to follow him into the kitchen where they couldn't be heard.

"Well?"

"It's not good. Either I make Sonic be a witness or he'll be killed" Shadow put it bluntly, folding his arms and looking away from her.

Rouge, taken aback, blinked rapidly. "Should have seen that coming" she sighed. "I told you the General won't waste any more time on this kid if he doesn't have to. I wouldn't worry too much though, he makes those kind of threats all the time. It's only in extreme cases that he.."

"It's worse" Shadow added. "Due to what's happened, Eggman has a good chance of being found innocent and I or G.U.N could be taking the fall."

"Are you serious?" she gasped. "How is that possible?"

Shadow shook his head and started to pace. "Because I was there and Eggman was in prison, that's how. Even if I get Sonic to talk it might not be enough. We need more evidence, I need to find out who sent this robot, who was controlling it."

"No" Rouge interrupted, holding onto his shoulder, "I need to find out, you're off the case sweetie."

Shadow groaned loudly, knocking her hand away. "I'm not going to risk loosing."

"And you won't. Trust me Shadow, I can get together a team and we will go back to the lair and gather all the intel that we need. Eggman didn't know he was going to be caught, so likely he has access on him..."

"Or someone else has control in his absence" Shadow finished, taking a moment to think. "Who would it be?"

"That will be my job to find out. Your job is waiting for you in the sitting room. Personally I think I got the easy one" she laughed. Shadow looked back to the door way, though was unable to see anything.

"How is he coping?"

"Simply? He's not. The kid is more broken then my criminal record. Try not to blow up too much when you go talk to him okay" Rouge joked, pushing Shadow to the door. "I have to go now?" he argued. "Yes, try and get as much info out of him and send it to me. I need to start working on this case. We only have two and a half months left" she said. With that, she planted a kiss on a reluctant Shadow's cheek and walked out of the house, leaving him behind clueless.

When she left, he felt himself glued to the spot he stood in, hesitant to approach the sitting room. He and Sonic hadn't spoken properly in a while, and this would hardly be an easy topic to bring up. However, there was no putting off the inevitable. He quickly made use of being in the kitchen and whipped up a sandwich with a side of salad and brought the meal into the room he wanted to avoid.

Sonic was still as he left him. His knees drawn up to his chest, arm clutching around them and his eyes staring at the wallpaper as if he were waiting for it to peel off.

Even as Shadow walked up to him and sat in his view, Sonic didn't register any movement or interruption. It occurred to Shadow that he could be going through another hallucination. So after waiting a moment, he lightly pinched the hedgehog's bare foot.

Sonic flinched, blinking his eyes and mind clearly coming back around to the real world. "You're back?" he mumbled, realising who he was looking at.

"I got you something to eat. You must be hungry" Shadow said, trying to hand the plate over. But Sonic shook his head, not wanting to take it.

"Fine, I'll eat it" he said while helping himself. Sonic started to look slightly annoyed. He wanted to save it for later.

At this point the blue hedgehog sighed. He had to wait for the questions to be asked that he knew was coming and he just wanted to get it all over with so he could go back to bed. His stitches had bleed through due to his attack and he was worried what would happen once the painkillers wore off. All he wanted was to sleep, and yet, the idea of being alone scared him now. Maybe the awkward silence wasn't so bad.

Shadow finished off the meal, enjoying it more then he realised he would. He put the plate down and brushed off his hands. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked bluntly.

Sonic lowered his eyes, biting down on his lip, not knowing if he could bring himself to speak about it. But Shadow wasn't going to wait, and the look on his face made that clear to him.

"I... got attacked by a robot."

"Yes I figured as much. What happened?"

Sonic tried to hide his face in his hand, his brain throbbing as he tried to remember. "I don't know... something grabbed my throat and then... something happened, I-I can't remember."

"Did the robot say anything? Was there anything that suggested Eggman had been the one to sent him?"

"No nothing, they can't talk. He didn't even know who I was" Sonic answered sadly.

"Then who would have sent him?"

"I don't know.. I can't think of anyone."

"Well think harder, I need to know who it was!"

"Shadow..."

"If we don't figure this out Eggman will be released and you'll..."

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP!" Sonic screamed out, hiding his face away in his knees as he couldn't bare to let the memories play through once again. His hand pierced his ear and he began to tug violently, unable to control his breaths as they seethed through his teeth.

Shadow stared in bewilderment, eyes widened in shock as he hadn't expected such a reaction. This was a lot harder to talk about then he had originally thought it to be, and learning from past experiences, he bottled up the initial reaction of anger for being yelled at and forced himself not to dwell on it.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I won't talk about it anymore" he said, placing his hands up in defence. It had no effect however, Sonic shivered with every struggling breath as his panic attack grew worse.

Shadow was at a loss of what the best thing to do was. He was completely useless now, so he decided that the best thing to do was give Sonic some space. He stood up, ready to leave the room, until Sonic's hand lashed out and grabbed him by the wrist.

"No don't leave!" he cried out, his face no longer hidden. Shadow stared back for a moment, truly seeing how broken and scared this kid looked, and why shouldn't he be? After everything that had happened, how could he possibly feel safe?

"Alright, I'll stay. Just calm down" he said while sitting again. He pulled a face when he saw Sonic wasn't letting go of his wrist, but instead of pulling away he allowed it, this one time.

"I can't... talk about it now" Sonic said through wheezing breaths, again staring off into the distance. Shadow figured that by him somehow staying must be helping because the blue hedgehog wasn't struggling as much this time around. He wasn't crying this time either, so Shadow could deal with that.

"You don't have to. We have time. I was being impatient" he admitted. Looking Sonic up and down, his eyes laid upon the missing arm, where the bandages hid the stitches that no doubt would be uneasy to look at. Without thinking of it, his hand reached out and landed upon Sonic's back, lightly rubbing along his spine in comfort. "Are you in any pain?" he asked.

Sonic took a moment to answer, but he soon shook his head, "N-no, I don't think so."

"Do I have to go back to the hospital?" he asked, breathing now settling to an easier pace.

"No" Shadow answered, and to his surprise Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. "You're staying here from now on. I've arranged to have a doctor come and visit to assess the situation, check up on you and hopefully provide any medication you need, but no, I'm not letting you leave here."

"What about... if anyone else tries... you know.."

"They won't get a chance" Shadow said sternly. Sonic kept looking away however, his mind drifting into panic and doubt, so Shadow grabbed his chin firmly and forced him to look him in the eyes. "Listen to me. It's not going to happen again. If I hadn't of left the robot wouldn't have gotten anywhere near you, you understand?"

Reluctantly and with so little confidence, he nodded in agreement, unsure whether he could believe it or not. But there wasn't much choice left for him now. Still, there was a lot that weighed heavily on his mind, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to say anything more at this point. He just wanted to sleep, ideally on the sofa where Shadow sat by with a gun and kept it pointed at the door all night, but he didn't see that happening sadly. His initial panic has settled down now, and he slowly leaned back against Shadow's hand, almost trapping it against the cushions as a way to make sure he didn't leave. It didn't though as Shadow pulled his arm out and freed himself.

Raising his brow, the black hedgehog glanced at Sonic once again. With all the commotion and everything that had been going on, he had completely over looked that the kid didn't have anything to wear. He had been wearing nothing at the hospital, which wasn't a problem for them, it was hardly immodest, but it wasn't sociably accepted for them to wear nothing at all and it left little in the way of dignity.

"Stay here, I'll be back" he said while standing up and walking away.

"No wait!" Sonic called out but Shadow had already left, leaving him to curl back up on the sofa and stared paranoid at the windows.

Fortunately it didn't take long for Shadow to return, and he held a box in his hands. When he sat back down, he pushed his hand against Sonic's legs and made him sit normally. The box was then placed on his lap.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Open it."

Doing as he was told, Sonic tried to pry off the lid, but the box was proving tricky as it wobbled, so Shadow had to hold it still for him. With the lid removed he dropped it on the floor, "What is this?" he asked, picking the item up, unable to hold it out to look at it properly.

Realising again the struggle he was having with something so simple, Shadow took the present from Sonic and held it up to show it was a new hoodie. It was light blue and had Japanese writing down the sides of the arms as well as large pockets on the front.

"You lost yours while taking down Eggman, I figured you would want a new one."

Sonic just looked lost as he took it in. He took it from Shadow's hands and placed it on his lap, deciding to leave it there as he went back to the box to see what else was in there.

"What's wrong with it?" Shadow asked, not appreciating that the only gift he's ever given in his life wasn't being acknowledged. Sonic seemed more impressed with the new shoes that he found instead. "Wow these are awesome!" he smiled, holding up the red sneakers in admiration.

"Sonic" Shadow snapped, drawing his attention back to the question before hand.

With a deep sigh he put the shoes down and started fiddling with the hoodie instead. "It's fine, thank you" he said bluntly, eyes drifting around.

"Tell me what's wrong" the agent ordered, not willing to let the matter go.

Sonic was quiet for a moment, but he eventually caved. Looking down sadly, he traced the hem of the garment with his finger. "The other one belonged to my brother. It was the only thing I had of my family, and now it's gone... so..."

Now it all made sense to him. Ever since he had arrested him Sonic wouldn't let anyone take that hoodie away from him, and many people had tried it. The garment smelled of pure trash and he wouldn't even let it be washed. Shadow assumed it was to hide his robot arm, but clearly it had been a lot deeper then he had realised.

"Do you miss them?" he asked.

For a moment, Sonic just froze. He didn't know how to answer that question.

So instead, not wanting to talk anymore, he lifted the hoodie up and placed it up over his head. He struggled a lot to put his arm through the hole, everything got a bit tangled without being able to use another hand to straighten it out. Shadow didn't know if he should intervene or not. But he couldn't leave him with his head trying to get through the arm hole. He had known that Sonic would struggle to adapt to his new situation but he didn't realise how much it would effect.

After pulling the bottom part down, Sonic finally managed to put the rest of it on and finished with an over exaggerated smile in achievement.

"Tada, how do I look?" he grinned forcefully.

Shadow laughed, knowing the moment was bitter sweet. He could only imagine what kind of commitment he had landed himself in now.


	22. Chapter 22

**Another month, another chapter. At least I'm still writing them, it just may take me some time.**

 **So as I'm sure every Sonic fan has seen by now, but the poster for the Sonic movie has just been released and, I gotta say, I have very mixed feelings about it. It could** **literally** **be a story all on it's own how I feel about this new look and those very** **uncomfortably** **muscular** **legs. So I'm curious what you guys think about it? Does anyone like the new design (what we've seen so far anyway) I'm looking for** **reassurance** **lol.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry that there really short.**

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The next morning had been more intense and stressful then Shadow had anticipated. Before the doctor was due to arrive the G.U.N agent was startled by the sound of an anguished filled scream from the spare room that sent shivers down his spine. After running to the room he found Sonic barely able to clutch his severed limb as he lay hopelessly on the floor, writhing in a pain that was too intense. It was obvious to Shadow at that moment that the drugs he had been given had worn off and he could now feel the effects of surgery.

He didn't hesitate. He picked Sonic up from the floor, placed him back in the bed and covered his mouth to silence the screaming while he used his phone to call the hospital.

A doctor was sent out there and then. It was a woman he had never met before but Shadow had the sense to trust her. There was nothing else he could do, Sonic was barely able to respond to simple questions due to his pain.

The first thing the doctor did was provide pain relief. Once the screaming had stopped, and Sonic finally settled after a long period of waiting, Shadow finally left them both in privacy.

It was now four days since those events. Shadow stood by the stove in his kitchen, stirring a pancake mix he made from scratch. His green apron was covered in flour, not to mention the egg shells and spilt sugar he left to clean up later.

As odd as it may seem for people, cooking was something he really enjoyed doing when he wasn't taking his bike out and chasing down criminals. Being created fifty years ago, he had taken the time he needed to master the art of combat, stealth and how to use the ability of the Chaos emeralds. When he became a G.U.N agent however, he didn't need to train for that stuff. He was put into a mission from day one and barely got a minute for himself. It was two years of pure, constant and strenuous work that lead him to near breaking point. He threw himself into the work out room but his aggression constantly grew. Why would he waste his time there when he had a job to do. Whenever he was home all he would do it fixate on his mission, go over the paper work again and again until eventually he either left the house to chase someone down or fell asleep. It was Rouge, who after first being assigned his partner, decided he was too much for her to deal with and put the t.v on in his home in order to relax. She left that day, leaving the t.v as she did. When Shadow went to turn it off, he hesitated when seeing the mouth watering ingredients being prepared for a luxurious take on medium raw steak, sided with roasted potatoes and home recipe gravy. It was an odd fixation for him watching the food being prepared and cooked in the oven, yet it was the first thing that made him forget about work.

Since that day until he ended up on the street, he watched the cooking channel every evening and wrote down the recipe and instructions. Then afterwards, it was a quick trip to the shops, then back home to cook his new meal. Over time he got really good at it. Shadow was able to whip up any sort of recipe without so much as using a measuring cup, and often whatever he would make would taste deliciously perfect. If it wasn't perfect, it went into the bin.

Today was the first time since moving into this house and getting his job back that he made something from scratch. He had been fixated only on capturing Eggman, but now, with his case being reassigned and having someone to look after, Shadow could finally relax a little, and threw all his remaining agitation and eagerness into cooking a decent breakfast.

Just as he was ready to plate up, a loud thud noise came from the room above him. Shadow looked up, wondering if he should be worried. But soon the thud was followed by the noise of shuffling, which then lead to slow, heavy steps that walked down the stairs.

What emerged at the door was a young man with his quills frazzled and a glazed look in his eyes as he barely managed to keep himself soon up right at the door frame.

Shadow remained emotionless as he faced the teenager, wondering how long until he would have to pick him up from the floor.

"Why are you up?" he asked, turning his attention back to the food.

Sonic barely answered as he opened his mouth wide in a yawn, stretching out his arm. "I'm sick of being in bed" he murmured, rubbing his eyes.

Shadow walked over and took his arm, leading him to sit down at the small table against the wall with only two chairs. Clearly not one to entertain.

"Nice apron" Sonic commented as he sat down. Shadow chose to ignore this. "You need to get as much rest as possible, you're not fit enough to walk around."

"I lost my arm, not my legs. And I can't spend another minute up there, the walls are closing in on me and I can barely breath!" he said dramatically.

Shadow merely scoffed, "That's because you're stinking up the place" he commented, getting the unfortunate whiff of bad body odour as he walked back to the counter. It wasn't as bad as when Sonic first arrived and he had to shower him down with the hose, but it had been over two weeks since then and the kid hasn't washed since. He feared that in itself was going to be another mission.

"No it's because you've boxed me in to a room with no windows and I'm going crazy." Sonic then pulled a look of discomfort as he held his stomach. "I need to run, I feel like I'm going to explode" he winced, attempting to stand up. Shadow was there quick to stop him, making him sit back down, "You're not going anywhere" he stated firmly. Sonic did all but throw his head back and stomp his feet like a child. "I need to!" he complained, becoming increasingly agitated.

"What's making you feel like this?" Shadow asked, noting how Sonic's legs were twitching like wild fire. He was barely able to contain himself, constantly rock back and forth with urgency.

"I don't know" he moaned, "I have all this energy built up and it's hurting, all I want to do is run around, get it out my system, something, I don't know. I feel like I'm suffocating, I need air!"

For once, Shadow felt he could understand. Often whenever he would go a while without using his chaos powers he would feel the energy build up, feeling a lot like butterflies in the stomach. It never made him this irritable however, but he would get more aggravated the longer it lasted.

Knowing there would have to be a compromise, he placed the two plates of food onto a tray, along with a glass of water and container filled with medication.

By merely picking up the tray with one hand, and balancing it on his side against his ribs, Shadow freed up his other hand so that he could help Sonic stand and guide him along towards the back door without any incidents. As part of the orders given by the doctor, Sonic wasn't to be left alone under any circumstances unless he was asleep or having bed rest. Simply, he was too unstable to be left alone. One moment he would appear fine, the next he was either unconscious on the floor or being delirious and putting himself at risk. Lately Shadow had been worried, it seemed like more often then he realised that Sonic would re-enact a memory, walking into walls, having half a conversation and sometimes hitting himself. This had only been a couple of intenseness from the past four days. Most of the time he was asleep, those were the peaceful moments. This was the first day since he had left the room, no wonder he was desperate to get outside.

After placing the tray down first, Shadow barely had to do anything to help Sonic as the hedgehog practically threw himself down the steps of the patio, sitting on the last step. He inhaled deeply, taking in every ounce of the fresh air that seeped its way into his lungs. It was almost a high on its own, the cold was welcoming and reviving, and even though he wasn't able to run, the small walk and sitting down made all the difference to his stomach. Never again would he step back inside that house, this was his home now, this patio step.

"Happy now?" Shadow asked, sitting down next to Sonic and placing the tray between the two of them. The goofy smile was enough to answer the question but Sonic still replied, "More then ever. I never thought I'd feel a breeze again. So what's this?" he moved on, looking down at the food.

"You've never seen pancakes?" Shadow asked, taking his own plate and helping himself to a mouthful.

"Is that what they are, my, I never knew" was the sarcastic reply. After briefly pausing, Sonic took the plate and lay it on his lap. Truth be told, they looked really tasty. Nice and thick, covered with maple syrup and a slice of butter melting on top.

Shadow was using a knife and fork to eat. And even thought he wasn't wearing gloves, Sonic didn't fancy getting sticky fingers. He picked up the knife from the tray, knowing he could only do one at a time. Despite having technically lost his arm a while ago, the robotic limb was connected to his central nerves, so he was still able to in a way feel objects in an unconventional way and had never lost any ability or experienced any handicap with it. Now though, he was going to have to learn to use his left hand for everything, and while in theory it sounded easy, it was moments like this that proved otherwise.

Sonic was having trouble cutting a straight line through his food. Without any support to hold it steady, it was already proving a challenge, but no matter how much he concentrated, he was just naturally pulling to the left. His aim was to cut the food into four equal pieces, now he was lucky if he got two pieces out of it, he was trying so hard to get it right. In the end he gave up, threw the knife down and ate with his hand.

It was almost pitiful, and Shadow couldn't help but feel a pang of compassion, something he rarely felt. But the moment was short when Sonic moaned out, "Mmm this is so good!" he nearly shouted.

"Glad you like it" Shadow said as a standard response.

"I can't believe I've never had these before" Sonic said with a mouthful, enjoying every bit of it.

Shadow raised his brow, "You've never eaten pancakes before?" he asked with disbelief.

Sonic shook his head, "No. The only exciting thing we ever got as kids was oatmeal. My mum believes in strict diets. None of us were allowed to eat junk food in case we got fat" he tried to make quotation marks with his hands as he said so, only to realise it wasn't going to work with just one hand, "Aw no I can't do that anymore!"

Shadow found himself a bit surprised at the fact that Sonic actually said something about his family without prompting. It truly was a day for firsts.

"You don't say. And when you say we?" he asked, hoping to get more.

"Me and my sisters. My brother just did what he wanted, so long as dad was happy I suppose" he shrugged, staring tiredly into the distance.

At this point Shadow felt in awe, it was usually such a struggle, he wondered if this sudden attitude change was a result of something, maybe a side effect of his medication? He seemed so relaxed and less angry when talking about his family now.

Speaking of which, Shadow remembered he still needed to give Sonic his meds. He had to take several different kinds throughout the day, and as Sonic was deemed unreliable and had a questionable past, he was the one who had to take responsibility in making sure Sonic took them without any problems. He thought it was completely unnecessary for himself to be having this much control but orders are orders. He would obey them for now.

Shadow picked up the glass of water and handed it to Sonic, who thanked him and took a small sip. "Here" Shadow said, next handing over the medication, until the blank look in Sonic's eyes reminded him the poor kid only had one hand and was holding the water.

With an annoyed sigh Sonic put the water down, took the meds and threw them into his mouth, then picked the water back up and gulped it down. It was a small thing, but it proved to be a big irritation of what simple things he could no longer do.

"So, you mentioned your dad, what was he like?" Shadow asked, redirecting the conversation to before.

With a stifled laugh, Sonic began to grow dreary, "I don't know how to describe him. Scary, arrogant, bit of a jerk. He wants me and my brother to be a lawyer like him, nothing else was allowed. But my sisters could do whatever they wanted. So unfair..."

"Is that why you ran away?" Shadow asked, not realising he had pushed too far.

Sonic turned and looked him dead in the eyes. For that moment, Shadow braced himself and prepared to restrain him if necessary. But to his surprise, Sonic didn't react as he expected. The glass fell from his hand, and chipped as it landed on the ground before Shadow could catch it. Sonic didn't react. He simply stood up, almost zombie like and staggered back into the house.

Shadow left the broken glass on the floor, quickly forgetting about it, and followed.

The blue hedgehog climbed his way up the stairs, his eyes fixated only on the next step he was about to take as his head hung low.

"Sonic?" Shadow questioned, but he got no response. Sonic didn't even care that when he walked into his room Shadow followed him in. All he did was lie back down on the bed and pull the covers over his head, and there he stayed.

For a moment Shadow stood next to the bed and listened. There was no sound, no crying, no muttering, barely a noise of breathing. It was as if he had just powered down for the time being. His behaviour had been so frantic, this was one mood he wasn't used to.

"Sonic speak to me" he ordered, shaking the lump concealed by the blankets, but he got no response. At this point he felt it best to leave him alone.

At least now he had some research to do.


End file.
